KR100773699B1 - Disposable thin memory chips. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a disposable thin film memory chip,

Memory part for storing information, contact part connected to host system, control part that interprets command, insulating polymer resin to protect the main part, plastic pad and insulating vinyl film, and easy to attach to any shape plate Characterized by having a guide groove on one side to hold the contact position.

Disposable thin film memory chip of the present invention eliminates the plastic frame protecting the main part or reduces the thickness to make a thin film form, even when attached to a plate such as paper or plastic, there is almost no change in thickness, so it is easy to manage and store, but the external impact or It is vulnerable to bending force, so it is used to attach to other boards rather than single use, and once attached, it cannot be detached again. The guide groove created on one side serves as a guide for positioning the correct contact point, and serves to read data as it is attached to any type of plate.

As it is disposable, it is not necessary to increase the conductivity such as expensive gold plating on the contact point, and it is possible to make the control part easily and it is possible to reduce the price. It works. In addition, since the guide groove determines the contact position, the shape of the guide groove has the same effect as the type of the memory chip. Therefore, by changing the shape of the guide groove, the memory chip can be used only in a specific host system.

Disposable, Flash, Memory Chip, Thin Film, Business Card, Digital Book          

Description

Disposable thin memory chips.

1 is an appearance of a typical smart media card.

2 is a block diagram of a conventional flash memory card

Figure 3 is a front view of a disposable thin film memory chip of the present invention

Figure 4 is an exploded side view of a disposable thin film memory chip of the present invention.

5 is an example of attaching a disposable thin film memory chip of the present invention to a paper business card

An object of the present invention is to make a disposable thin-film memory chip. Since it is a thin film type, the memory chip alone is easily bent and damaged, so that it is attached to another plate, and once attached to the plate, it is used as it is without removing it. Here, the plate means a flat plate-like material that is not easily folded, such as paper or plastic plate, and is referred to as a plate below. The use of disposable thin-film memory chips can hold hundreds of kilobytes (KB) to several megabytes (MB) of information, which is larger than barcodes or magnetic tapes, and is cheaper and thinner than other flash memory cards or IC chips. It is hard to change the thickness even if it is attached to a plate, so it is used for attaching tags, digital books, business cards, and promotional papers of various products.
In general, various methods are used to transmit and receive digital information offline rather than in a computer network. Bar codes, magnetic tapes, floppy diskettes, compact discs, IC chips, and flash memory cards. Barcodes, magnetic tapes, and IC chips are mainly used to store and use information of kilobytes or less. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A flash memory card is used for a portable media device requiring frequent updating of image information or voice information of several megabytes (MB), and a compact disc is mainly used for transferring or storing hundreds of megabytes (MB) of information. However, there is a lot of free space to use for compact discs to transfer or store megabytes of data that rarely update, and it is too expensive and inefficient to use a regular flash memory card. For example, a digital book that digitizes one book would be about 200KB in size. In the case of a business card, a file made of a business card image is stored in a similar capacity. In terms of capacity, a suitable means of storing digital books or business card information is a floppy disk, which is mainly used in the past, but is too large or difficult to store.
In view of the current price trend of NAND flash memory, flash memory of less than 100 won per megabyte can be used. Most digital information, such as digital books or business card information, is rarely modified once recorded and is sufficient to read once or twice throughout the product lifecycle. Therefore, if digital information such as digital books or business card information is made into a small size disposable memory such as flash memory, the thin film type is possible at low cost and is easy to store and handle.
1 is a commonly used smart media card (SMC). The 22-pin contact portion 250 and the write protection device 260 are exposed to the outside. Smart Media Card has a simple control and memory and control circuit is surrounded by polymer resin. However, the 22-pin contact part is located in an easy-to-reach area, and its large area is not only susceptible to static electricity. Fig. 2 shows a typical flash memory card using a 7-pin serial bus. The contact portion 230 is exposed to the outside and the rest is surrounded by plastic. The control unit 220 and the memory unit 210 are included therein, and a register or a buffer 240 to assist the control process is also included. The flash memory card is designed to form a stable contact even after 10,000 times of detachment, because the flash memory card is used in an environment where data is frequently updated, and in this regard, the flash memory card is more durable than the smart media card, but is much thicker. In the case of IC chips, which are usually used for electronic money, the contact point is very important. The input and output of the data is made from time to time, and the reliability of the data is very important, so the contact portion must be made to have good conductivity and durability. However, these durable contacts are not needed in disposable memory chips. In the case of disposable memory chips, only a few data reads occur during the product's life cycle. For example, in the case of a disposable thin film memory chip attached to a product tag, the seller only reads data once when the seller sells it and once when the consumer checks the product information. The same applies to business cards, digital books or promotional papers. At most, dozens of reads occur during the product's life-cycle. Such disposable thin-film memory chips do not need to be treated with expensive gold plating or have large contact sizes to increase conductivity and durability.
The IC chip can be manufactured to a thickness of about 1mm, but the contact part is not only expensive but also not suitable for being exposed to the external environment. Moreover, when reading and writing data, it is difficult to make sure that the contact point of the host system and the contact point of the IC chip are in the correct position. Therefore, it is convenient to use it as it is mounted on the host system, but it is not suitable for the repeated use case like the flash memory card. The host system is a general term for a media device, a computer, an electronic notebook, a mobile phone, and the like that can be connected to a memory chip contact point to read and write necessary data.
In the case of a flash memory card, the plastic frame surrounding the outside can be removed to form a thin-film memory chip. However, the plastic frame of the flash memory card not only protects the controller and memory of the flash memory card but also serves as a guide when the flash memory card is mounted in the host system to determine the type of flash memory card. It also plays a role in determining location. Therefore, if you remove the external plastic frame of the flash memory card, there must be another means for determining the position of the contact.

An object of the present invention is to provide a thin-film memory chip that can store information of several hundred kilobytes (KB) to several megabytes (MB) and hardly feel the difference in thickness even when attached to a plate at a low price. In order to lower the price, it is necessary to lower the price of the expensive control unit and the contact unit. The means for satisfying this is a usage environment in which only a few times data read / write occurs during the life cycle of the memory chip, that is, when the memory chip is used for one time. In other words, if a data read / write is performed several times during the life cycle of the memory chip, the controller does not have to include a complicated command execution function. Therefore, it is possible to configure the controller as a logic circuit that performs a simple command. The additional parts only need to be handled to withstand dozens of installations and dismounts, thus lowering the price of the contacts. To reduce the thickness to make a thin film, the outer frame made of plastic must be removed. As seen in conventional flash memory cards, one of the important roles of the plastic frame is to determine the type and location of the contacts. If you don't use a plastic frame, you'll have to find another way to determine the type or location of the contacts, and let the guide groove take over.
Therefore, the memory chip of the present invention has the following characteristics that are distinguished from other existing IC chips or flash memory.
1) It should be thin film type that is easy to be stored and handled because it has little change in thickness even if it is attached to a plate such as paper or plastic plate.
2) It is possible to read / write data several times during the life cycle of memory chip at low price.
3) Make guide grooves that help to easily position the contacts when attached to the host system as they are attached to the plate.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail.
3 is a front view of a disposable thin film memory chip, and FIG. 4 is a side exploded view of the disposable thin film memory chip.
The disposable thin film memory chip of the present invention includes a memory unit 10, a contact unit 30, and a simple controller 20. In order to make the thickness thin, the control unit is as simple as possible and only the necessary logic circuits are added. The memory unit 10 and the control unit 20 are positioned at the center and do not come under the contact unit 30. This is to prevent the control unit or the memory unit from being affected when pressed for contact.
Each contact 30 is a conventional planar contact shape or has a cylindrical space in the center as shown in FIG. The cylindrical contact 30 is deeply embedded in the insulating polymer 50 to provide not only constant strength to the insulating polymer 50 itself but also to provide a large contact area when the contact portion of the host system is pressed. The insulating polymer resin 50 protects the memory unit 10 and the control unit 20 and gives a certain strength and elasticity to surround the memory unit 10 and the control unit 20. In addition, since the central portion containing the memory unit 10 and the control unit 20 is particularly protected, a thin plastic pad 60 is placed on both sides. On the surface where the contact portion 30 is exposed, an insulating secret film 70 is attached to the top to prevent the contact portion 30 from being exposed to air. In particular, the insulating vinyl film 70 is intended to prevent the risk of data corruption due to static electricity. When it is connected to the host system, the insulating vinyl film 70 is peeled off and mounted. Since the disposable thin film memory chip is not often connected to the host system during the life cycle, it is not difficult to peel off and reattach the insulating vinyl film 70 once or twice.
The guide groove 40 serves as a guide for positioning the correct contact point in the media device capable of reading and writing the disposable thin film memory chip. In single-use thin-film memory chips, data transfer speed is not critical and low capacity is pursued, so it is designed to reduce the number of contacts possible. The number of contacts is not specified here. The number of contacts depends largely on the interface method and therefore depends on the design of the control unit and leaves it to the manufacturer's characteristics. The 7-pin method shown in FIG. 3 is an example of a serial bus method. The guide groove 40 determines the contact position, so it must match the shape of the mounting portion of the host system. That is, the host system capable of reading / writing by mounting the disposable thin film memory chip has a protruding guide portion shaped like the guide groove 40 in the disposable thin film memory chip. When the guide groove 40 is fitted snugly, it matches the contact point of the host system.
Disposable thin-film memory chips are difficult to use alone because they are thin and bendable because most of the protective frames are removed to make them cheaper and thinner. In particular, the disposable thin-film memory chip is easy to bend, so it is easy to damage the memory part or the control part. When attaching to the plate is applied by applying an adhesive to the opposite side 80 of the surface with the contact portion 30. At this time, once the disposable thin-film memory chip is damaged because it is removed, it is used permanently as it is attached. Therefore, when attaching the disposable thin film memory chip to a plate such as a flat paper or plastic plate, the groove having the same shape as the guide groove 40 should be dug in the overlapping portion of the guide groove 40 of the disposable thin film memory chip.
5 is an example in which the disposable thin film memory chip of the present invention is attached to a paper business card. In order to attach the disposable thin film memory chip of the present invention to the paper business card 110, first, a blank space of the same size as the disposable thin film memory chip 100 is found in the paper business card 110. Punch the grooves in the same area as the guide grooves 40 of the memory chip 100 in the appropriate space, and then the grooves newly made in the guide grooves 40 of the memory chip 100 and the paper business card 110 are exactly the same. It is good to attach it. Since the thickness of the disposable thin-film memory chip 100 can be manufactured to 1 mm or less, it is not too difficult to use it on the paper business card 110. If you still do not want to stick out, cut out the size of the disposable thin film memory chip 100 from the paper business card 110, and then insert the disposable thin film memory chip 100 into the empty space and paste a transparent tape on the back. This will not be so different from the original thickness of the paper business card (110). Business cards with disposable thin-film memory chips can be given to the other party at low prices. Since the thickness is not different from the usual paper business card, it can be used as it is by inserting it into a normal business card holder, and there is an advantage that it can be read at any time when the information is used in other media. The same is true for general promotional materials. There is an advantage in that it is more cost-effective to produce general promotional materials than compact discs or other media. In particular, since there is little thickness, even dozens of prints are not difficult to store and manage.

As described above, the present invention is a memory chip used to store digital information requiring several reads / writes, so that there is no need to increase the conductivity such as expensive gold plating on the contacts, and the controller can be easily made, thereby making it a low-cost thin film memory It can be used as a chip and thin film type, so it is convenient to use because it doesn't have much difference in thickness even if it is attached to business cards, product tags, or promotional papers. In addition, since the guide groove determines the contact position, the shape of the guide groove has the same effect as the type of the memory chip. Therefore, by changing the shape of the guide groove, the memory chip can be used only in a specific host system.
Disposable thin film memory chips can provide information that requires a large capacity, such as images, while conventional barcodes and magnetic tapes have limited capacity, and they can only store some special information. Do.

Claims (3)

In a thin-film memory chip used for disposable use by attaching to a sheet material such as paper and plastic sheet, A memory unit for storing data, A control unit for performing a command, A contact portion consisting of contacts for exchanging data by connecting to a host system and configured to be exposed on one surface of the memory chip; An insulating polymer resin surrounding and protecting the memory unit and the control unit and supporting the contact unit; Plastic pads on both sides of the insulating polymer resin to protect the memory unit and the control unit from an external impact; A transparent plastic film attached on the surface with the contact portion to protect the contact portion from contamination and static electricity and to be easily peeled off when connecting to the host system; It has a rectangular groove on one side of the memory chip, so that when the memory chip is mounted on the plate and fitted to the rectangular projection of the same shape in the mounting portion of the host system, the contacts of the contact portion of the memory chip are Guide grooves to determine the mounting direction and the contact position of the memory chip, which makes the contacts of the host system correctly engaged, Disposable thin film memory chip comprising a. The method of claim 1,         Disposable, characterized in that the contacts forming the contact portion has a cylindrical shape, embedded in the insulating polymer resin, the contact area is increased when connecting to the host system having a tack-shaped contact to improve conductivity Thin film type memory chip. The method of claim 1,        Disposable thin film memory chip further comprising a plastic bar surrounding the memory unit and the control unit in a rectangular wall shape in the insulating polymer resin for the purpose of protecting the control unit and the memory unit from an external bending force. .

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