KR20100080854A - Electronic interface apparatus and method and system for manufacturing same - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for manufacture of an electronic interface card including defining a pair of apertures in a substrate layer, associating an antenna with the substrate layer such that opposite ends of the antenna terminate at the apertures, placing a conductor in each of the apertures, connecting the antenna to the conductor, forming a recess in the substrate layer, attaching continuous connection wires to a plurality of chip modules, attaching the continuous connection wires to a plurality of conductors on a corresponding plurality of the substrate layers, cutting the continuous connection wires so as to retain portions thereof which connect each chip module to a corresponding pair of conductors and sealing the chip module in the recess.

Description

ELECTRONIC INTERFACE APPARATUS AND METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANUFACTURING SAME

The present invention relates generally to electronic interface cards, also known as "smart cards," and more particularly to electronic interface cards having contact and / or contactless functionality.

It is believed that the following US patents represent current technology:

7,278,580; 7,271,039; 7,269,021; 7,243,840; 7,240,847; 7,204,427; And 6,881,605.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electronic interface card and a method of manufacturing the same.

Accordingly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided, which is a method of manufacturing an electronic interface card, comprising: defining a pair of holes in a substrate, the antenna being connected to the substrate such that opposite ends of the antenna terminate at the holes. Coupling, placing a conductor in each of the holes, connecting the antenna to the conductor, forming a recess in the substrate, and connecting a continuous connection to the plurality of conductors of the corresponding plurality of substrates. Attaching, cutting the continuous lead to maintain a portion of the continuous lead connecting each chip module to a corresponding pair of conductors, and sealing the chip module to the recess. It includes.

Advantageously, the method also includes laminating said substrate with at least an upper layer and forming a recess in said upper layer overlying said recess of said substrate. Additionally, the top layer includes a first top substrate layer and a second top substrate layer.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sealing step includes placing an adhesive under the chip module and inserting the chip module into the recess such that the bottom engages the surface on which the recess is formed. Include.

Advantageously, the method also includes folding said wire under said chip module.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, before the method of the step of attaching the automated and continuous connecting line to the plurality of conductors, adjacent chip modules of the chip modules are spaced along the connecting line by a predetermined interval and the adjacent cards of the cards are separated. The conductors are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval. Additionally or alternatively, the step of attaching the continuous lead to the conductor includes laser bonding. Alternatively or additionally, attaching the continuous leads to the chip module includes soldering.

Preferably, the wire has a length that is substantially longer than the distance between each opposing end of the wire in the electronic interface card.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of manufacturing an electronic interface card includes forming a substrate having at least one layer, forming an antenna on the at least one layer, and connecting a plurality of chip modules to a continuous connection line. Attaching the chip to the plurality of antennas, and cutting the continuous cable to maintain portions of the cable connecting each chip module to a corresponding antenna. Connecting wires between the antennas, and mounting the chip module to the substrate.

Preferably, before attaching the connection line to the plurality of antennas, adjacent chip modules of the chip modules are spaced along the connection line by a predetermined distance and adjacent antennas of the substrates are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance from each other.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wire has a length that is substantially longer than the distance between opposite ends of the wire in the electronic interface card. Additionally or alternatively, the mounting step includes folding the wire under the chip module.

Preferably the method is automated.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention further provides a system for manufacturing an electronic interface card based on an electronic interface assembly, the electronic interface assembly comprising: a substrate having at least one layer, at least two positioned in the at least one layer A plurality of conductors and a wire antenna coupled to the substrate and electrically coupled to the at least two conductors, the system driving the plurality of recess formers to form recesses in the substrate layer; Attach to the chip modules, and maintain the portion of the continuous lead that attaches the continuous lead to the plurality of conductors on the corresponding plurality of substrate layers and connects each chip module to the corresponding pair of conductors. Wire section operative to cut continuous connecting lines Function, and include a seal operable to seal the chip module in the recess.

Preferably, the system also includes a laminator operative to laminate the substrate layer with the top layer and the bottom layer.

According to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is further provided a method of manufacturing an electronic interface assembly, the method of manufacturing an electronic interface assembly comprising the steps of: providing a substrate having at least one substrate layer; Coupling the antenna to the conductors coupled with the at least one substrate layer, attaching a continuous connection to the plurality of chip modules, and connecting the continuous connection to the corresponding plurality of substrate layers. The chip module is cut by attaching it to a plurality of conductors on the wires and cutting the continuous lead to retain a portion of the continuous lead connecting each chip module to a corresponding pair of conductors. Attaching to the conductors, and sealing the chip module to the substrate. And a system.

Advantageously, the method also includes defining a pair of holes in the substrate layer such that opposite ends of the antenna terminate at the holes and positioning conductors in each of the holes before the connecting step. Additionally or alternatively, the method includes laminating the substrate layer with an upper layer and a lower layer.

The invention will be more fully understood and understood from the following detailed description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is a simplified perspective and cross-sectional view of an electronic interface card having contact and contactless functionality constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram illustrating the initial stages of manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
3A and 3B are simplified perspective and cross-sectional views respectively illustrating later steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
4A and 4B are simplified perspective and cross-sectional views respectively illustrating later steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
5A and 5B are simplified perspective and cross-sectional views respectively illustrating later steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
6A and 6B are simplified perspective and cross-sectional views respectively illustrating additional steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
7A and 7B are simplified perspective and cross-sectional views respectively illustrating additional steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
8A and 8B are simplified perspective and cross-sectional views respectively illustrating additional steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
9 is a simplified perspective view illustrating additional steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
FIG. 10 is a simplified perspective view illustrating additional steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
FIG. 11 is a simplified perspective view illustrating additional steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.
12A and 12B are simplified perspective and cross-sectional views respectively illustrating the final steps in the manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic interface card 100 is shown having contact and / or contactless functionality constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic interface card 100 preferably comprises a multilayer substrate comprising upper and lower protective layers 102 and 104, wherein the upper and lower protective layers are generally made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Formed and generally have a thickness of 0.05 mm each. Alternatively, the protective layers 102 and 104 may be formed of any other suitable material, such as Teslin®, PolyEthylene Terephthalate-Glycol (PET-G), PolyEthylene Terephthalate-Film (PET-F), polycarbonate, or ABS. .

Arranged inside both of the protective layers 102 and 104 are preferably artwork layers 106 and 108, which are generally formed of PVC and consist of a thickness of 0.15 mm each, generally each Has a plate which can be seen through the protective layers 102 and 104. Alternatively, the plate layers 106 and 108 may be formed of any suitable material, Teslin®, PolyEthylene Terephthalate-Glycol (PET-G), PolyEthylene Terephthalate-Film (PET-F), polycarbonate, or ABS. Alternatively, the plate layers 106 and 108 can be removed.

Inside both the plate layers 106 and 108 are preferably provided with an inlay 110 comprising a wire antenna 112, preferably with a diameter of 0.1 mm and embedded in the first inlay layer 114. The first inlay layer is generally formed of PVC and preferably has a thickness of 0.15 mm. Inlay 110 also includes second and third inlay layers 116 and 118, which are also formed of PVC and formed to a thickness of 0.1 mm and 0.15 mm, respectively. Alternatively, the first, second and third inlay layers 114, 116 and 118 may be any suitable materials, Teslin®, PolyEthylene Terephthalate-Glycol (PET-G), PolyEthylene Terephthalate-Film (PET-F), polycarbonate Or ABS.

The chip module 120 is preferably mounted in a recess 122 formed in the electronic interface card 100. The chip module preferably comprises a smart card chip 124 consisting of a package having a pad 126 and a contact array 128, the thickness of the smart card chip being preferably 0.06 mm. Alternatively, contact 128 may be removed and smart card chip 124 may provide contactless functionality.

The electrical connection between the chip module 120 and the embedded antenna 112 is provided by the wire 130, preferably the thickness of the wire is 0.1 mm, and preferably the wire is connected to the pad 126 at the first end of the wire. It is soldered and laser bonded to the metal element 132 coupled to each end of the wire antenna 112 at the opposite end. Suitable laser bonding and conventional soldering can be used interchangeably. It is a feature of the present invention that the length of the wire 130 between the pad 126 and each metal element 132 is substantially longer than the distance between the pad 126 and the metal element 132 in the assembled card. This feature provides improved reliability.

The layer 134 of hot melt adhesive disposed at the periphery of the bottom of the contact array 128 joins the surface of the layer 106 by engaging the surface 136 facing the corresponding recessed portion of the layer 106. The chip module 120 is retained in the recess 122 by engaging with the corresponding recessed periphery facing 136.

With reference to FIG. 2, a simplified perspective view is provided showing an initial stage of manufacture of the electronic interface card of FIG. 1 in which layer 114 is perforated to define a pair of holes 150. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the antenna 112 is coupled with the layer 114 by well-known embedding techniques, which employs Islip's ultrasonic head located in New York, USA, which is generally commercially available from PCK techniques. do. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, both ends 152 of the antenna 112 terminate at the hole 150.

Alternatively, antenna 112 may be a printed antenna formed on substrate 114 by suitable printing techniques or may be an antenna attached to substrate 114 by any suitable attachment method.

4A and 4B, an adhesive pad 154 is provided on the layer 114 at the corresponding edge 156 of the hole 150. As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the metal element 132 is located in the hole 150 and held in place in the hole by the adhesive pad 154. Preferably, the ends 152 of the antenna 112 are connected to the metal element 132 by thermal compression bonding or any other suitable technique. After this connection step, the adhesive pad 154 no longer needs to hold the metal element 132 in place and the pad 154 is removed. Alternatively it is recognized that the adhesive pad 154 need not be removed.

At this stage, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, layers 116 and 118 are provided under the layer 114 and the layers 102, 104, 106 and 108 are laminated together, thereby laminating The structure is as shown in Figs. 7A and 7B.

8A and 8B, recesses 122 are formed in layers 102, 106, and 114, and recesses of metal elements 132 and layer 106 are formed and surfaces 136 facing the periphery are formed. It is preferably exposed by milling. Alternatively, the recess may be formed on the opposite side of the card.

Referring to FIG. 9, the partially assembled part of FIG. 8B, arranged and held in side-by-side arrangement, spaced along the conveyor belt 160 at precise intervals labeled "L" between the metal elements 132 of adjacent cards herein. Cards are shown. The exact spacing is preferably maintained by standing up the elements 162 formed on the conveyor belt 160. Conveyor belt 160 moves the partially assembled cards of FIG. 8B in the direction indicated by arrow I. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 10, spaced along the conveyor belt 170 at an exact spacing of "L", which is a spacing (FIG. 9) coinciding with the spacing "L" between the metal elements 132 of adjacent cards between chip modules. Chip modules 120 (FIG. 1) are shown arranged side by side. The exact spacing is maintained by, for example, standing up the elements 171 formed in the conveyor belt 170.

As shown in FIG. 10, a pair of continuous wires 172 are released from each failure 174 on the rod 176, as clearly shown in enlarged portion A and cross-section A-A of FIG. 10. Likewise, it extends over each pad 126 of the chip module 1210 in close proximity to or in contact with the pad 126. Preferably, the wire 172 is maintained tensioned along each length.

Wire 172 is soldered to pad 126 by, for example, a pair of heated soldering pins 178 that couple with wire 172 and pad 126, respectively. Suitable laser bonding and conventional soldering can be used interchangeably. Preferably, in this step, as shown in the enlarged portion B and the cross-section B-B, the wire 172 is held tensioned along its respective length and downwards relative to the pad 126, As shown in the enlarged portion C and cross sections C-C, the solder is melted by the soldering pins 178 and at least partially embedded in the pads 126 and retained at the embedded points after joining the soldering pins. At this time, after the solder is hardened on the pad 126, the chip module 120 is supported by the wire 172 and moved in the direction indicated by arrow II.

Referring to FIG. 11, there is shown an assembly of a chip module mounted with wires as shown in FIG. 10 on a partially assembled card arranged as shown in FIG. 9. The moving directions I and II of the partially assembled card and chip module 120 of FIG. 9, supported by wire 172, preferably coincide. During the continuous operation, the movement of the conveyor belt 160 in the direction I joining the partially assembled card 100 with the welded wire 172 as described below operates to tension the wire 172. .

As shown in enlarged portion A and cross-section A-A of FIG. 11, the wire 172 located in front of the chip module 120 is partially assembled by a pair of heated soldering pins 180 ( It is soldered to the metal element 132 of 100. Suitable laser bonding and conventional soldering can be used interchangeably. The length of the wire 172 extending between the metal element 132 of the partially assembled card 100 and each pad 126 of the chip module 120 is indicated by " F " in FIG. Then, wire 172 is cut off from each of the cutting heads 182 and just at the back of pad 126 as shown in enlarged portion B and just in front of metal element 132 as shown in enlarged portion C. FIG. 184, thus leaving wire 130 (FIG. 1) of length F, each pad 126 of each chip module 120 corresponding to the corresponding metal element 132 of each partially assembled card. ). The remaining length portion of wire 172 is discarded as indicated by reference numeral 186. Then, as shown in enlarged portion D, the partially assembled cards, each connected to the chip module 120, are unloaded from the conveyor belt 160.

12A and 12B, after attaching the wire 130 to the corresponding pad 126 of the chip module 120 and placing the hot melt adhesive 134 around the bottom of the array 128, The chip module 120 is inserted into the recess 122 so that the periphery of the array 128 couples to seal with the surface 136 facing the recessed periphery of the layer 106. As shown in FIG. 1, the insertion method is a method in which the wire 130 is folded under the chip module 120.

The methodology described above with respect to FIGS. 1-12 is preferably performed highly automated.

While the embodiments described herein include substrate layers 102, 104, 106, 108, 114, 116 and 118, the multilayer substrate of electronic interface card 100 may be any suitable number of layers configured in any suitable thickness. It may include.

Some or all of the layers of the multilayer substrate of electronic interface card 100 may be formed of any of the materials described above, or may be formed of any other suitable material, such as a composite material. In addition, the layers of the multilayer substrate of the electronic interface card 100 need not be formed of the same material, and each layer may be formed of different materials or different materials.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the scope of the present invention is not limited by what is specifically shown and described above. Rather, the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art by reading the foregoing description in conjunction with the drawings and include both combinations and subcombinations as well as variations and modifications of the various features described above that are not prior art.

100: electronic interface card
112: antenna
114: substrate
120: chip module
122: recess
130: wire
132: metal element
150: hole

Claims (19)

In the method of manufacturing the electronic interface card,
Defining a pair of holes in the substrate layer;
Coupling the antenna with the substrate layer such that opposite ends of the antenna terminate in the holes;
Placing a conductor in each of the holes;
Connecting the antenna to the conductor;
Forming a recess in the substrate layer;
Attaching a continuous connection line to the plurality of chip modules;
Attaching the continuous connection to a plurality of conductors on a corresponding plurality of substrate layers;
Cutting the continuous lead to retain a portion of the continuous lead connecting each chip module to a corresponding pair of conductors; And
Sealing the chip module in the recess;
Electronic interface card manufacturing method comprising a. The method of claim 1,
Laminating the substrate layer with at least an upper layer; And
Forming a recess in the upper layer to overlie the recess in the substrate layer;
Electronic interface card manufacturing method further comprising. The method of claim 2,
And the upper layer comprises a first upper substrate layer and a second upper substrate layer. The method of claim 3, wherein
The sealing step is:
Disposing an adhesive under the chip module; And
Inserting the chip module into the recess such that the lower portion engages with the recessed surface;
Electronic interface card manufacturing method comprising a. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
And folding the wire under the chip module. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The method of manufacturing an electronic interface card comprises an automated process, and before the step of attaching the continuous connection line to the plurality of conductors, adjacent chip modules of the chip modules are spaced along the connection line by a predetermined interval and the card Wherein the conductors of adjacent cards of one another are spaced apart from each other by the predetermined interval. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Attaching the continuous connection line to the conductor comprises laser bonding. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Attaching the continuous connection line to a chip module comprises soldering. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
And the wire has a length substantially longer than the distance between each opposing end of the wire in the electronic interface card. In the method of manufacturing the electronic interface card,
Forming a substrate having at least one layer;
Forming an antenna on the at least one layer;
Attaching a continuous connection line to the plurality of chip modules;
Attaching the continuous connection line to a plurality of the antennas; And
Cutting the continuous lead to retain portions of the continuous lead connecting each chip module to a corresponding antenna,
Connecting a wire between a chip module and the antenna;
Mounting the chip module on the substrate;
Electronic interface card manufacturing method comprising a. The method of claim 10,
Prior to attaching the continuous connection line to the plurality of antennas, adjacent chip modules of the chip modules are spaced along the connection line by a predetermined interval and the antennas of the adjacent substrates of the substrates are mutually separated from each other. A method of manufacturing an electronic interface card spaced by a determined interval. The method according to claim 10 or 11,
And the wire has a length substantially longer than the distance between each opposing end of the wire in the electronic interface card. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12,
And the mounting step includes folding the wire under the chip module. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13,
The method of manufacturing an electronic interface card is an electronic interface card manufacturing method comprising an automated process. An electronic interface assembly comprising a substrate having at least one layer, at least two conductors located in the at least one layer and a wire antenna coupled to the substrate and electrically coupled to the at least two conductors. A system for manufacturing an electronic interface card,
A recess former operable to form a recess in the substrate layer;
A continuous connection line is attached to the plurality of chip modules,
Attach the continuous connection to a plurality of conductors on a corresponding plurality of substrate layers, and
A wire attachment function operative to cut the continuous lead to retain a portion of the continuous lead connecting each chip module to a corresponding pair of conductors; And
A sealer operative to seal the chip module in the recess;
Electronic interface card manufacturing system comprising a. The method of claim 15,
And a laminator operative to laminate the substrate layer with the upper layer and the lower layer. In the method of manufacturing the electronic interface assembly,
Providing a substrate having at least one substrate layer;
Coupling an antenna with the at least one substrate layer;
Coupling the antenna to conductors coupled to the at least one substrate layer;
Attaching a continuous connection line to the plurality of chip modules;
Attaching the continuous connection to a plurality of the conductors on a corresponding plurality of the substrate layers; And
Cutting the continuous lead to hold a portion of the continuous lead connecting each chip module to a corresponding pair of conductors,
Attaching a chip module to the conductors; And
Sealing the chip module to the substrate;
Electronic interface assembly manufacturing method comprising a. The method of claim 17,
Defining a pair of holes in the substrate layer such that opposite ends of the antenna terminate at the holes; And
Placing the conductors in each of the holes before the connecting step;
Electronic interface assembly manufacturing method further comprising. The method of claim 17 or 18,
Laminating the substrate layer with an upper layer and a lower layer.

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