WO2021223878A1

WO2021223878A1 - Metal chip card and associated production method

Info

Publication number: WO2021223878A1
Application number: PCT/EP2020/062870
Authority: WO
Inventors: François Droz
Original assignee: Nid Sa
Priority date: 2020-05-08
Filing date: 2020-05-08
Publication date: 2021-11-11
Also published as: CH717420A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a chip card (10) comprising a lower face (11) and an upper face (12), including: - a plastic substrate (1) on which an antenna (3) is mounted and above which a shield (7) is provided; and - a coating layer made of perforated metal (4) forming said upper face (12).

Description

Metal card and associated manufacturing process

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to the field of smart cards. More precisely, it relates to a card of the dual interface type or of the RFID type, that is to say comprising at least one chip and one antenna.

State of the art

The use of cards which contain both a chip and an antenna is well known, in particular in the field of payment cards and electronic labels (RFID transponders). An RFID card has a coil connected to a chip and is typically totally embedded, for example in a polymer. In the case of a so-called dual interface payment card, a contact module comprising a chip intended to be inserted into a reader, while an antenna is intended for its part to allow payment without contact, via communication with a remote reader. The antenna is moreover used not only as a means of communication, but also as a means of supplying power to the chip; it is preferably carried out on a flexible support, for example via printing with conductive ink, or the introduction of a copper wire directly into the polymer to form the coil. From patent EP1275082 of the applicant, such cards are known provided with a magnetic shielding for the antenna produced for example via an element made of magneto-reflective material. The parts constituting the metal shield of the card, however, are hidden under layers of plastic lamination. Purely metallic chip cards are also known; however, the latter do not make it possible to integrate an antenna therein and consequently no longer constitute “dual interface” type cards, but only so-called contact cards. However, these cards are in great demand in certain markets where the metallic aspect and the heaviness of the card confer a high-end character to the product. A drawback of this type of card nevertheless concerns their production cost, which is much higher than standard plastic cards, as well as the difficulty of personalizing these cards, especially in terms of decorative patterns, which is much more tedious on metal than on plastic.

There is therefore a need for a solution free from these known limitations.

Summary of the invention

An aim of the present invention is to provide a new smart card having a metallic appearance as well as a method of manufacturing such a card.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new card which can be easily decorated.

According to the invention, these goals are achieved by means of a smart card comprising a lower face and an upper face, comprising:

- a plastic substrate on which is mounted an antenna, above which is produced a magnetic shielding, as well as, at the level of the upper face of the card,

- a perforated metal coating layer, forming said upper face.

These aims are also achieved according to the invention thanks to a method for manufacturing such a smart card, characterized in that it comprises: a first step of manufacturing a plastic substrate on which an antenna is mounted, above which is carried a magnetic shielding, as well as - a second step of manufacturing a metal coating layer forming the upper face of the card, comprising a cutout, followed by a

- third step of assembling the metal coating layer on the plastic substrate.

An advantage of the proposed solution is to produce new metal cards while achieving significant economies of scale, both in terms of intrinsic manufacturing costs and in terms of depreciation of existing production tools for usual plastic cards. . In fact, metal cards require specific equipment relating to machining techniques relating to another profession, which implies significant investments in a new production tool.

Another advantage of the proposed solution is to allow the realization of a more flexible hybrid card than current full metal cards.

Yet another advantage of the proposed solution relates, in particular for the production of bank cards, to compatibility with existing certification standards. Indeed, secure banking elements must currently be manufactured in a certified environment respecting the PCI standard (acronym for Payment Card Industry). The manufacture of the metal element in an uncertified environment is therefore possible since there are no secure elements on the subcontracted metal part. Thus, the method of producing a hybrid card as proposed according to the invention makes it possible to dissociate the production of metal parts, requiring no certified secure environment, from those comprising logos and secure elements that must be produced. in an environment that complies with applicable certification standards.

According to a preferred embodiment, the smart card has a metal coating layer whose thickness is between 50 and 500 micrometers. The advantage of such a sufficiently thin thickness is that it makes it possible to confer sufficient flexibility allowing the use of conventional machines for plastic cards in order to personalize them, and not specific machines linked to the treatment and machining of metal.

According to an even more preferred embodiment, the smart card comprises a perforated metal layer comprising at least one through opening allowing a first visual pattern to appear on the substrate. In this way, even assuming that this first series has only one visual motif, this can be achieved simply via techniques relating to plastic cards, such as offset printing, screen printing or even the deposition of plastic cards. 'holograms, without the need to work the metal directly.

According to another even more preferred embodiment, the through opening is covered with resin, an insert or a cut film compensating for the thickness of the metal coating layer so as to level the surface of the upper face. . In this way, we can simply achieve a completely flat metallic appearance upper face, with decorative or personalized patterns made via a lower layer, which are protected, via this protective layer, against scratches or scuffs via this layer of protection. According to yet another even more preferred embodiment, the card comprises at least a first pattern seen through the first through opening or a series of through openings corresponding to a personalized logo and / or personalization data. Thus, it is easy to personalize visual patterns with, for example, a gradient of colors while giving the impression that they are produced directly on the metal, only the shape of the logo having to be formed in the plate constituting the upper face of the metal. the map.

According to yet another even more preferred embodiment, the upper face comprises at least one second visual pattern produced directly on said perforated metal coating layer. In this way, one easily achieves an effect of double visual, that is to say of two clearly separable pattern types, further improving the quality of the overall aesthetic of the card. Preferably, this other pattern can be produced by chemical etching.

According to another preferred embodiment, the perforation is carried out by stamping, cutting, chemical or laser etching on the metal layer. An advantage of this embodiment is that it is possible to dissociate these metal machining operations from those of plastic, both temporally and geographically, for example by having recourse to a subcontractor, and to no longer have then to assemble the machined metal plate to the substrate produced completely independently thereof.

According to yet another preferred embodiment, the method of manufacturing a smart card according to the invention is characterized in that the manufacturing step comprises an additional step of integrated shielding of the antenna in the plastic substrate. In this way, the shielding, necessary for the proper functioning of such a card, can be produced simply and in a modular fashion according to the usual manufacturing processes, as for a standard card. Thus, no additional manufacturing constraints are generated for the production of this hybrid card comprising both a metal layer and a substrate composed of one or more plastic layers.

Brief description of the drawings

Other advantageous characteristics will emerge more clearly from the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention given by way of non-limiting example and represented by the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a three-dimensional schematic view of a smart card according to a preferred embodiment for the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment for the manufacture of a smart card according to the invention; FIG. 3 is an exploded view in three dimensions of a smart card according to another preferred embodiment for the invention;

- Figure 4 is an exploded three-dimensional view of a smart card according to yet another preferred embodiment for the invention. detailed description

In what follows, reference will be made to a smart card 10 as preferably corresponding to a payment card with a dual interface, or an RFID type card. Figure 1 illustrates a three-dimensional exploded schematic view of a smart card 10 according to a preferred embodiment for the present invention, relating to a dual interface payment card.

For such a card 10, the substrate 1 preferably consists of an assembly of several laminated sheets and already comprises an antenna 3 as well as an integrated shielding. An example of detail of laminating layers will be given later with the aid of FIGS. 3 and 4. On top of substrate 1, that is to say on the front of the latter, a printing layer is produced. via which is represented a series of first visual patterns 5, here two in number. A first example 5A of first visual pattern 5 here preferably consists of a first color gradient intended to be visualized under a first series of through openings 42A of the perforated metal coating layer 4 arranged on the substrate 1 to form the face. upper 12 of the card 10, while the second example 5B of first visual pattern 5 consists of a second color gradient intended to be displayed under respectively a second and third series of through openings 42 B and 42C.

In Figure 1, each of the series among the first series of through opening 42A, second series of through opening 42B, and third series of through openings 42C are circled in dotted lines, while for each of these series, a through opening 42 is given by way of example, corresponding respectively to a disc, a star, and an arc of circle. According to the preferred embodiment illustrated, each of the series of openings mentioned above itself has several openings and the visual patterns may vary with respect to each other, for example by being formed by offset printing, by screen printing or even via the application of a hologram.

In Figure 1, a hole 41, here shown in rectangular form, is formed in the perforated metal plate 4 where the through openings 42 are arranged is provided to accommodate the contact module 2 of the card 10, which comprises a chip. electrically connect to the antenna, which is here already integrated into the substrate 1.

While on the lower face 11 of the card can be represented various other usual patterns of a payment card (not shown in this figure, such as security codes etc.), it can be seen that on the upper face 12, different personalized visuals can therefore be produced on the card via the combination of the series of first visual patterns 5 and the through openings 42 or of series of through openings which define the periphery thereof in the manner of a stencil. Thus for example in Figure 1 one can distinguish a first series of openings 42A formed of three rows of circles of different diameters going slightly increasing appear for example in slightly degraded colors, going from the lightest to the darkest as and when that the diameter increases, thanks to the first example 5A of the first underlying visual pattern 5. Likewise, the second series of openings 42B made up of different star shapes reveals part of the second example 5B of first visual pattern 5 below, while another part of this second example 5B of first visual pattern 5 visible. under a series of arcs of circles corresponding to the third series of openings 42C makes it possible to personalize a logo 51, namely that allowing the possibility of contactless payment, made possible by the antenna. To further improve the visual rendering of the upper face 12 of the card 10 according to this illustrated preferred embodiment, a second level of visual rendering is provided by one or more second visual patterns 6 made directly on the perforated metal layer 4. Preferably, these second visual patterns 6 can be produced on the surface by chemical etching so as to be able to clearly dissociate these patterns from the underlying series of first visual patterns 5. In Figure 1, the second visual pattern 6 is unique, consisting of a star at the top right; however, it could be for example a world map extending over almost the whole of the perforated metal covering card 4 and, according to one variant, include several, such as the first visual patterns 5 according to the preferred variant. illustrated. The diagram in figure 2 illustrates the dissociation of the manufacturing processes of the parts linked to the plastic substrate 1 (on the left of the figure) from those linked to the manufacture of the perforated metal coating layer 4 (on the right of the figure). figure), in the particular case of making a payment card of the dual interface type. The dotted dividing line aims to materialize this dissociation both from a temporal point of view - these steps are not necessarily carried out simultaneously - and from the point of view of geographical location - these steps are not necessarily carried out at the same place, nor by the same manufacturer.

On the left of the figure, the first step (A) relates to the manufacture of the substrate 1, that is to say to obtain a substrate comprising at least one antenna 3 like that shown in FIG. 1 previously described, thus a shielding 7 covering the antenna in order to magnetically isolate it from the perforated metal coating layer 4 which will subsequently be added to the substrate 1. Alternatively, for the production of an RFID card, this step would simultaneously include the 'integration of a chip in the substrate 1. The second step (B), on the right of the figure, relates to the manufacture of the perforated metal coating layer 4, that is to say a layer of metal in which at least one through opening 42 has been made, and preferably a series of such openings, as illustrated in FIG. 1 above.

As will be seen later with the aid of FIGS. 3 & 4, the shielding of the antenna 3 is preferably made via a non-metallic foil affixed to the- above the antenna 3, and then covered with a second plastic layer on which the first visual patterns 5 will be produced; however, according to a variant not illustrated, these first visual patterns 5 could be produced directly on the shielding layer; according to another variant not shown, the shielding could be produced for example via a metal plate made of Mu-metal, which would have the advantage of still further ballasting the card.

According to the preferred embodiment described, the manufacturing method comprises a first additional step (A1) consisting in producing a first series of visual patterns 5 preferably via an offset printing layer on the front of the substrate 1, which will make it possible to optimize the visual appearance of logos or other shapes whose periphery is defined by the through opening 42 (or respectively the series of through openings 42A, 42B, 42C).

Still in this preferred embodiment, a third series of patterns 8 is produced by printing on the back of the substrate 1, and this printing layer can then be protected by a transparent plastic cover sheet 9 often referred to as an "overlay". Once the substrate 1 is finalized following this sequence of steps, we can add the perforated metal coating layer 4, the assembly can be carried out for example via cold lamination or hot lamination with thermobonding adhesive. Before this third step (C) of assembling the perforated metal coating layer 4 to the substrate 1, a second additional step (B1) of making a series of second patterns 6 will preferably have been carried out on top of the layer. of perforated metal coating 4 forming the upper face of the card 10, before giving an advantageous “double visual” impression.

For a card 10 with a dual interface, the third assembly step (C) is then completed by a fourth step (D) of inserting the contact module 2, in a housing previously machined in the substrate 1, by being placed there on the substrate 1 so as to simultaneously make an electrical contact with the antenna 3. For this purpose, the lower contacts of the module are connected to the antenna, while the latter are in parallel connected to the chip located under the module. This fourth step (D) of the assembly of the contact module 2 and therefore of the chip is usually the last step carried out during the production of the chip card 10.

However, in addition to this fourth assembly step (D), a fifth step (E) will preferably be carried out for covering all the through openings 42 revealing a first visual pattern 5 with resin, an insert or a film. cut compensating for the thickness of the metal coating layer 4 so as to level the surface of the upper face 12 of the card 10. In practice, to carry out this step it is possible to deposit, prior to the third step (C), a film on the perforated metal sheet (4) such that the resin which is used for bonding this metal sheet to the substrate 1 fills the cavities formed therein so as to level the upper face 12 of the card. This sheet will then be removed after polymerization of the resin. According to such a variant, this fifth step (E) is therefore carried out jointly with the third step (C), and a person skilled in the art will therefore understand from the illustration corresponding to FIG. 2 that it does not correspond in any way to a sequence to be interpreted strictly and restrictively.

FIGS. 3 and 4 essentially aim to illustrate the different constituent layers of substrate 1 according to two preferred embodiments. At the level of the upper face 12 of the card 10, the perforated metal coating layer 4 is in all respects identical to that of FIG. 1; consequently, the description of all the constituent elements of this card will not be repeated in detail.

According to the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the substrate 1 on which is affixed the perforated metal coating layer 4 and the contact module 2 contains 4 layers assembled together, or even 5 if the layer is counted. covering 9 (“overlay”) on the lower face 11 of the card 10, that is to say under the first substrate layer 1A. This first layer of plastic substrate 1A is that on which the antenna 3 is assembled, formed here on another sheet, precisely called antenna sheet 1C. Above this antenna sheet 1C is arranged a shielding plate 7, also in the form of a sheet, itself covered by a second layer of plastic substrate 1 B, preferably of PVC like the first layer of substrate 1A, on which the prints of the first patterns 5 are produced showing through in the through through openings 42 of the perforated metal cover plate 4. According to a variant not shown, these prints could however be made directly on the shielding plate 7 in order to save the thickness of this 2 ^nd substrate layer 1 B and thus make it possible to increase that of the upper metal layer. On the back side of the first substrate layer 1A are printed 3 ^rd series of patterns visually 8 directly visible on the underside of the board 11, and are covered with the transparent cover sheet 9 so that the print contained can be protected and visible over time. Furthermore, a magnetic strip 13 is preferably also arranged on the back of the first substrate layer 1A in order to provide a third means of payment.

Regarding the shielding plate 7, those skilled in the art will understand that it takes the form of a sheet extending over the entire surface of the card only according to a preferred embodiment, corresponding to that which is illustrated in the figures. However, the shielding, which depends on the area of the antenna 3, may have a smaller area, and in particular not extend over the entire surface of the card.

The only difference between FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 concerns the fact that the substrate 1, formed here by all the layers included between the first layer of substrate 1 A and the 2 ^nd layer of substrate 1 B as well as the protective layer at back side, that is to say the cover sheet 9, comprises one layer less, the antenna 3 having been produced directly on the substrate layer 1A, opposite the printed layer on which the first patterns are made visuals 5; this layer will be referred to as being a prelaminated substrate layer 1 D. The shielding plate 7 is therefore interposed between this prelaminated substrate layer 1 D and the second substrate layer 1 B on which the first series of patterns are made. visuals 5 prints. The method of assembling the different layers of the substrate between them can nevertheless remain in all points identical to that used within the framework of a standard card.

Although only a few embodiments have been described by way of example in the foregoing, it will be understood that the latter are not intended to exhaustively expose all the possible embodiments. Those skilled in the art will understand that it is possible to replace a means described by equivalent means without departing from the scope of the present invention. In particular, it would also be conceivable, without departing from the scope of the present invention, to add an additional central ballast plate and to integrate the latter directly between layers of substrate, as well as to produce other types of visual patterns. and to realize shapes other than logos or decorative shapes. In particular, the personalization data of a payment card, traditionally produced by embossing and which includes the name of the bearer as well as a PAN number (acronym for "primary account number) making it possible to identify an issuing bank, the credit agency and assigning a unique identification number to the card) could also be visible through cutouts in the metal coating layer.

Claims

1. Smart card (10) comprising a lower face (11) and an upper face (12), said card (10) comprising:

- a plastic substrate (1) on which is mounted at least one antenna (3), above which is produced a shielding (7) characterized in that it furthermore comprises, at the level of the upper face (12 ) of said card (10),

- a perforated metal coating layer (4) forming said upper face (12).

2. Smart card (10) according to claim 1, the thickness of the metal coating layer (4) being between 50 and 500 micrometers.

3. Chip card (10) according to claim 1 or 2, said perforated metal layer (4) comprising at least one through opening (42) allowing a first visual pattern (5) to show through.

4. Smart card (10) according to claim 3, said through opening (42) being covered with resin, an insert or a cut film compensating for the thickness of said metal coating layer (4) so leveling the surface of said upper face (12).

5. Chip card (10) according to one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that at least a first visual pattern seen through said through opening (42) or a series of through openings (42A) corresponds to a personalized logo (51).

6. Smart card (10) according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that said upper face (12) comprises at least one second visual pattern (6) produced directly on said openwork metal coating layer (4).

7. Smart card (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shielding (7) is formed between said antenna (3) and said perforated metal coating layer (4).

8. Method for manufacturing a smart card (10) according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it comprises:

- a first step (A) of manufacturing a plastic substrate (1) on which an antenna (3) is mounted and above which a shielding (7) is made, as well as

- a second step (B) of manufacturing a metal coating layer (4) forming the upper face (12) of said card (10), comprising a cutout, followed by a

- third step (C) of assembling said metal coating layer (4) on said plastic substrate (1).

9. Method for the manufacture of a smart card (10) according to claim 8, characterized in that the perforation is produced by stamping, cutting, chemical or laser etching.

10. Method for manufacturing a smart card (10) according to claim 8 or 9, said first step (A) comprising a first additional step (A1) of producing a first visual pattern (5) by offset printing. , silkscreen printing or the deposition of a hologram.

11. Method for manufacturing a smart card (10) according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that said second step (B) comprises a second additional step (B1) of producing a second pattern. visual (6) by chemical etching.

12. Method for manufacturing a smart card (10) according to one of claims 10 or 11, characterized in that it comprises a fourth step (D) and a fifth step (E) of covering the opening or series of through openings (42A, 42B, 42C) revealing said first visual pattern (5) by resin, insert or cut film compensating for the thickness of said metal coating layer (4) of so as to level the surface of the upper face (12) of said card (10).