TWI606401B - Smart card, smart card contact pad carrier board and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Smart card, smart card contact pad carrier board and manufacturing method thereof

The invention relates to a smart card, a smart card contact pad carrier board and a manufacturing method thereof.

Smart cards have been widely used in various industries due to their high security. Typically, a smart card contains a built-in microprocessor and an antenna or contact pad with a number of metal contacts in the antenna or contact pad. The smart card can be used directly as the card itself, such as a SIM card for a mobile phone, or mounted to a larger substrate such as a bank credit/deposit card and an identification card.

The invention relates to a smart card contact pad.

The size of the smart card contact pads must conform to international standards such as ISO7816 or 4FF Nano-SIM standards to enable efficient data transfer when smart cards are inserted into reading devices such as payment terminals, card readers, and the like.

The materials used for smart card contact pads are usually precious metals such as gold. With the rising prices of raw materials in recent years, the manufacturing cost of smart card contact pads is increasing. However, if other replacement materials are used, the cost will be higher due to the need to re-certify the card's toughness, longevity, safety, and the like.

The present invention is directed to a method of manufacturing a smart card contact pad that increases the utilization of raw materials.

The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a smart card contact pad carrier board, comprising the steps of: a) providing a substrate having a width substantially equal to 35 N mm, N being a positive integer; b) forming a smart card contact pad on the substrate, and providing more than two smart card contact pads along the substrate width direction, the smart card The width direction of the contact pad is parallel to the substrate width direction.

Preferably, 3N smart card contact pads are disposed along the width direction of the substrate, and the width of the smart card contact pads is substantially equal to a minimum width specified by an international standard of smart cards.

Preferably, the smart card contact pad includes a plurality of contacts, and a majority of the plurality of contacts have a width direction parallel to the substrate width direction.

Preferably, the length of each smart card contact pad is substantially equal to the minimum length specified by the smart card international standard.

Preferably, the substrate has a width substantially equal to 70 mm, and six or seven smart card contact pads are disposed along the width direction of the substrate.

Preferably, the length direction of the smart card contact pad is parallel to the length direction of the substrate.

In another aspect, the present invention also provides a smart card contact pad carrier, comprising a substrate and a plurality of conductive layers formed on the substrate, the substrate having a width substantially equal to 35N mm, N being a positive integer, the carrier along the substrate Two or more smart card contact pads are formed in the width direction, and the width direction of the smart card contact pads is parallel to the substrate width direction.

Preferably, the width of the smart card contact pad is substantially equal to a minimum width specified by an international standard for smart cards.

Preferably, each smart card contact pad comprises a plurality of contacts formed by a conductive layer Point, a majority of the plurality of contacts have a width direction parallel to the substrate width direction.

Preferably, each smart card contact pad comprises two sets of contacts arranged along the length of the substrate, each set of contacts comprising four contacts arranged in the width direction of the substrate.

Preferably, the substrate is a flexible board, and the conductive layers are respectively disposed on opposite surfaces of the substrate.

Preferably, the width of the substrate is substantially equal to 35 mm, and three smart card contact pads are disposed along the width direction of the substrate.

Optionally, the substrate has a width substantially equal to 70 mm, and six or seven smart card contact pads are disposed along the width direction of the substrate.

Optionally, 3N smart card contact pads are disposed along the width direction of the substrate, and the length direction of the smart card contact pads is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the carrier.

Preferably, the smart card contact pads are arranged in a plurality of rows, each row extending in a direction parallel to the length of the substrate, and the smart card contact pads are arranged in a plurality of columns, each column extending in a width direction of the parallel substrate.

The invention also provides a smart card comprising a smart card contact pad, the smart card contact pad being made by the aforementioned smart card contact pad carrier.

In the present invention, since the width direction of the smart card contact pad is consistent with the width direction of the carrier board, as many smart card contact pads as possible can be disposed along the width direction of the carrier board to make the smart card contact pad arrangement more compact, thereby improving the raw material of the carrier board. The utilization rate, that is, the carrier board of the same area in the prior art (the width direction of the smart card contact pad coincides with the length direction of the carrier board) can produce more smart card contact pads. Moreover, by increasing the width of the carrier, the production efficiency of the smart card contact pads can be improved.

The detailed description and drawings of the present invention are to be understood as the

The technical solutions and other advantageous effects of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that the drawings are not intended to The dimensions shown in the drawings are for convenience of clarity and are not to be construed as limiting.

1 to 2 are a smart card contact pad carrier 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The smart card contact pad carrier 10 is formed with a plurality of smart card contact pads 12, each of which includes a plurality of smart card contact pads 12. In the present embodiment, each smart card contact pad 12 includes eight contacts: a contact C1, also called a power supply voltage contact (VCC), for connecting an external power supply to supply power to the smart card's microprocessor chip. Contact C2, also called reset contact (RST), is used to provide a reset signal to the smart card; contact C3, also called clock contact (CLK), is used to provide a clock signal to the smart card; contact C4, also Reserved contact (RFU), reserved for future use; contact C5, also known as ground contact (GND), ground reference voltage; contact C6, also known as programming voltage contact (VPP), for programming voltage input; Contact C7, also called input/output contact (I/O), is used for input/output of serial data; contact C8, also known as reserved contact (RFU), is reserved for future use.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the smart card contact pad carrier 10, including a substrate 14 made of an electrically insulating material and a plurality of conductive layers 16, 18, 20 disposed on opposite sides of the substrate 14. Thus, the smart card contact pad 12 taken from the smart card contact pad carrier 10 also includes a substrate and a conductive layer, the contacts are formed of a conductive layer, and the edge of the substrate 14 extends beyond the edges of the contacts C1 ^- C8, the excess substrate The edge can be used as a mounting edge for subsequent installation of the smart card contact pad 12 to the smart card. In this embodiment, each smart card contact pad 12 is substantially rectangular or rectangular, and the dimension D1 in the width direction is less than or equal to the dimension D2 in the longitudinal direction.

The substrate 14 is preferably made of a flexible plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) having a thickness between 55 and 95 micron, preferably 75 microns.

In the present embodiment, the material of the first conductive layer 16 is copper, and the first conductive layer 16 is formed on two opposite outer surfaces of the substrate 14. Preferably, the first conductive layer 16 has a thickness of 5 to 25 μm, preferably about 10 μm.

In the embodiment, the material of the second conductive layer 18 is nickel (nickel), and the second conductive layer 18 is formed outside the first conductive layer 16 . Preferably, the second conductive layer 18 has a thickness of 1.0 to 4.0 μm, preferably about 2.5 μm.

In the present embodiment, the material of the third conductive layer (outer conductive layer) 20 is gold, and the outer conductive layer 20 is formed outside the second conductive layer 18. Preferably, the outer conductive layer 20 has a thickness of from 0.02 to 0.08 micrometers, preferably about 0.045 micrometers.

The conductive layer is formed in contact with the smart card contact pad 12 C1 ^~ C8, preferably, the smart card contact pad 12 contacts a C1 ^~ C8 are formed by etching, in the present embodiment, by wet etching ( Wet etching) is formed, and adjacent contacts are insulated from each other.

In this embodiment, the width of the smart card contact pad 12 is substantially equal to a minimum width specified by an international standard of a smart card, and the length is substantially equal to the international standard of the smart card. The minimum length of the standard.

Preferably, the size of each smart card contact pad 12 contact C1 ^~ C8 is set according to the minimum size specified by the international standard ISO7816. In the present embodiment, the distance between the centers of the contacts C4 and C8 is preferably 7.62 mm, and the preferred distance between the centers of the contacts C1 and C4 is 7.62 mm. Preferably, at least the area of the main contact area of each of the contacts C1 to C4 and C6 to C8 is 1.7 mm by 2.0 mm. Each of the smart card contact pads 12 is disposed such that the width direction coincides with the substrate width direction (lateral direction). Specifically, at least the width direction of each of the contacts C1 to C4 and C6 to C8 is laterally coincident with the substrate 14. The contacts C1 to C4 of each smart card contact pad 12 are sequentially arranged in the lateral direction of the substrate 14, and likewise, the contacts C5 to C8 are sequentially arranged next to each other in the lateral direction of the substrate. In the present embodiment, the positions of the contacts C1 to C4 in the substrate are upstream of the contacts C5 to C8 (as shown in the figure, the contacts C1 to C4 are located to the right of C5 to C8). Of course, it can be set in reverse as needed.

The first set of contacts C1 to C4 of each smart card contact pad 12 are laterally aligned along the substrate 14, and the second set of contacts C5 to C8 are also aligned laterally along the substrate 14.

In the present embodiment, the substrate 14 has a lateral dimension of substantially 35 mm and is applicable to existing roll to roll manufacturing processes. Therefore, no major changes are required in the prior art, and the user of the contact pad does not need to make new tests or adjustments.

The present invention adjusts the direction in which the smart card contact pads 12 are disposed: the width direction of the smart card contact pads 12 is substantially parallel to the width (lateral) direction of the substrate 14, and the length direction is substantially parallel to the length direction (longitudinal direction) of the substrate 14 and/or the contacts C1 ^to C8. The majority of the (half or more) contacts have a length direction substantially parallel to the length direction of the substrate 14, so that more than two (3) smart card contact pads arranged in a row along the width direction of a 35 mm wide substrate 14 can be disposed. 12, a plurality of similar smart card contact pads 12 arranged in a row may be disposed along the length of the substrate 14.

In use, the smart card contact pad carrier 10 can be cut by punching or the like to form a single smart card contact pad 12, and then the smart card contact pad 12 can be mounted to the corresponding position of the smart card. The smart card contact pad 12 of the present invention can be electrically connected to an external circuit of the smart card by a flip-chip method, or can be electrically connected to an external circuit of the smart card by wire bonding.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a smart card contact pad carrier according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The width of the smart card contact pad carrier 10 is adjusted to 70 mm, so that six smart card contact pads 12 arranged in a row can be disposed along the width direction of the substrate 14, and a plurality of similar contact pad rows are arranged along the length of the substrate 14. Thus, the smart card contact pads 12 are arranged in a row along the length of the substrate 14, each row being parallel to the longitudinal direction of the substrate 14. Along the length of the substrate 14, the orientation of certain rows of contact pads may be reversed, i.e., in a portion of the row of contact pads, the contacts C1 to C4 are upstream of the contacts C5 to C8 and are in contact with other portions. In the pad, contacts C1 to C4 are downstream of contacts C5 to C8.

A row of positioning holes 22 are respectively disposed on both sides of the smart card contact pad carrier 10 for positioning when the smart card contact pads 12 are stamped and mounted. In this embodiment, in addition to the need for adjustment of the punching device, other existing technologies and devices can be utilized.

It can be understood that the width of the smart card contact pad carrier 10 can be 35N mm; accordingly, 3N smart card contact pads 12 can be disposed along the width direction of the smart card contact pad carrier 10, N being a positive integer.

In the above implementation of the present invention, due to the width direction and wisdom of the smart card contact pad 12 The width direction of the card contact pad carrier 10 is uniform, so that 3N smart card contact pads 12 can be disposed along the width direction of the smart card contact pad carrier 10, thereby improving the raw material utilization rate of the smart card contact pad carrier 10, that is, with the prior art. The carrier of the same area in the (the length direction of the smart card contact pad coincides with the width direction of the carrier) can produce more smart card contact pads 12. Moreover, by increasing the width of the smart card contact pad carrier 10, the production efficiency of the smart card contact pad 12 can be improved.

4 and 5 are respectively the smart card contact pad carrier 30 of the third and fourth embodiments of the present invention, the structure of the smart card contact pad carrier 30 and the smart card contact pad carrier 10 of the foregoing embodiment. The structure is basically the same, except that the smart card contact pads 12 disposed on the smart card contact pad carrier 30 of the third and fourth embodiments are sized according to the international standard 4FF Nano-SIM, and each smart card contacts the pad 12 The length D2 is substantially equal to 12.3 mm ± 0.1 mm and the width D1 is substantially equal to 8.8 mm ± 0.1 mm. Thus, a 35 mm wide smart card contact pad carrier 30 as shown in FIG. 4 can easily be provided with three rows of smart card contact pads 12, and the positioning holes 22 can be provided on both sides of the carrier plate 30 in the width direction. A 70 mm wide smart card contact pad carrier 30 as shown in FIG. 5 can be provided with 7 rows of smart card contact pads 12, and the positioning holes 22 can be disposed on both sides of the carrier plate 30 in the width direction.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection of the present invention. Within the scope.

10‧‧‧Smart card contact pad carrier

12‧‧‧Smart card contact pads

14‧‧‧Substrate

16‧‧‧ Conductive layer

18‧‧‧ Conductive layer

20‧‧‧ Conductive layer

22‧‧‧Positioning holes

C1‧‧‧ contacts

C2‧‧‧ contacts

C3‧‧‧Contacts

C4‧‧‧ contacts

C5‧‧‧ contacts

C6‧‧‧ contacts

C7‧‧‧ contacts

C8‧‧‧Contacts

D1‧‧‧ dimension in the width direction

D2‧‧‧ dimensions in the length direction

1 is a partial plan view showing a smart card contact pad carrier board according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a smart card contact pad carrier of the present invention.

3 is a partial plan view showing a smart card contact pad carrier board according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a partial plan view showing a smart card contact pad carrier board according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view showing a smart card contact pad carrier board according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

10‧‧‧Smart card contact pad carrier

12‧‧‧Smart card contact pads

14‧‧‧Substrate

22‧‧‧Positioning holes

C1‧‧‧ contacts

C2‧‧‧ contacts

C3‧‧‧Contacts

C4‧‧‧ contacts

C5‧‧‧ contacts

C6‧‧‧ contacts

C7‧‧‧ contacts

C8‧‧‧Contacts

Claims (14)

A method of manufacturing a smart card contact pad carrier, comprising the steps of: a) providing a substrate having a width equal to 35 N mm, N being a positive integer, the substrate being made of flexible plastic and having a thickness of 55 to 95 Between the micrometers; b) forming a plurality of conductive layers on both sides of the substrate to form at least 3N smart card contact pads along the width direction of the substrate, the width of the smart card contact pads being equal to a smart card international standard 4FF Nano-SIM The minimum width, the width direction of the smart card contact pad is parallel to the substrate width direction, and the length of each smart card contact pad is equal to the minimum length specified by the smart card international standard, and the length direction of the smart card contact pad is parallel to the substrate length direction. The method of manufacturing a smart card contact pad carrier according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: positioning holes are provided on both sides of the substrate in the width direction. The method of manufacturing a smart card contact pad carrier according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the smart card contact pad comprises a plurality of contacts, and more than half of the plurality of contacts have a width direction parallel to a substrate width direction . The method of manufacturing a smart card contact pad carrier according to claim 1, wherein: the substrate has a width equal to 35 mm, and three smart card contact pads are disposed along a width direction of the substrate. The method of manufacturing a smart card contact pad carrier according to claim 1, wherein: the substrate has a width equal to 70 mm, and six or seven smart card contact pads are disposed along the substrate width direction. Manufacturing smart card contact pad carrier board as described in claim 1 The method, wherein: the minimum width specified by the smart card international standard is in accordance with the specifications of the 4FF Nano-SIM. A smart card contact pad carrier comprising a substrate and a plurality of conductive layers formed on the substrate, the substrate having a width equal to 35 N mm, N being a positive integer, the substrate being made of flexible plastic and having a thickness between 55 and 95 microns The smart card contact pad carrier plate is formed with at least 3N smart card contact pads along the width direction of the substrate, the width direction of the smart card contact pads is parallel to the substrate width direction, and the width of the smart card contact pads is equal to the international standard 4FF Nano- The minimum width specified by the SIM. The smart card contact pad carrier board of claim 7, wherein: each smart card contact pad comprises a plurality of contacts formed by a conductive layer, and more than half of the plurality of contacts have a width direction parallel to the substrate width direction . The smart card contact pad carrier board of claim 7, wherein: each smart card contact pad comprises two sets of contacts arranged along the length direction of the substrate, each set of contacts comprising four arranged along the width direction of the substrate. Contact. The smart card contact pad carrier according to claim 7, wherein the substrate is a flexible board, and the conductive layers are respectively disposed on opposite surfaces of the substrate, and the positioning holes are disposed on both sides of the substrate in the width direction. The smart card contact pad carrier according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein: the substrate has a width equal to 70 mm, and six or seven smart card contact pads are disposed along the substrate width direction. The smart card contact pad carrier according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein: the substrate has a width equal to 35 mm, and three smart card contact pads are disposed along the substrate width direction. The smart card contact pad carrier according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein: 3N smart card contact pads are disposed along the width direction of the substrate, and the length direction of the smart card contact pads is in contact with the smart card. The pad carriers are parallel in the longitudinal direction. The smart card contact pad carrier according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein: the smart card contact pads are arranged in a plurality of rows, each row extending along a length direction parallel to the substrate, the smart card contacting The pads are arranged in a plurality of columns, each column extending in the width direction of the parallel substrate.