Registers – Records – Conductive
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-13
2002-10-08
Le, Thien M. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Records
Conductive
C235S441000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06460773
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an IC card and, more particularly, to a combination card which can exchange data with an external device by both a contacting method and a non-contacting method.
Presently, in order to connect an IC card to an external device, there are two methods, one is a contacting method and the other is a non-contacting method. In the contacting method, an IC card having terminals exposed on a surface thereof is used. When such an IC card is attached to the external device, the terminals of the external device are made in contact with the terminals of the IC card and are electrically connected thereto so that data exchange can be performed between the IC card and the external device.
On the other hand, in the non-contacting method, an IC card provided with an antenna inside thereof is used. When such an IC card is attached to an IC card reader or positioned close to the IC card reader, data exchange is performed by radio communication between the IC card and the IC card reader. Relatively simple data is exchanged by the non-contacting method. For example, data used for an attestation of an ID number in a security system may be exchanged by the non-contacting method.
There is a combination card, which is an IC card that can be used by both the contacting method and the non-contacting method. That is, the combination card, is an IC card provided with both the connection terminals for exchanging data by the contacting method and an antenna for exchanging data by the non-contacting method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A description will now be given, with reference to
FIGS. 1
to
6
, of a conventional combination card.
FIG. 1
is a plan view of a conventional combination card.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, the conventional combination card comprises a card body
1
and an IC card module
2
(hereinafter simply referred to as a module) incorporated in the card body
1
. The card body
1
is made of a plastic material. A loop antenna
3
is incorporated in the card body
1
.
A plurality of external connection terminals (electrodes)
4
are formed on one side of the module. The module
2
is incorporated in the card body
1
so that the external connection terminals
4
are exposed on the surface of the card body
1
. Hereinafter, the surface on which the external connection terminals
4
are exposed is referred to as a terminal surface. When the combination card is used by the connecting method, the data exchange is performed by the external connection terminals
4
contacting the terminals of the external devices.
Antenna terminals
5
are provided on a side of the module
2
opposite to the terminal surface. Opposite ends of the antenna
3
are connected to the antenna connection terminals
5
. Hereinafter, the surface opposite to the terminal surface of the module
2
is referred to as a mounting surface.
A description will now be given, with reference to
FIGS. 2
to
4
, of a structure of the module
2
.
FIG. 2
is a plan view of the terminal surface of the module
2
.
FIG. 3
is a plan view of the mounting surface of the module
2
.
The module
2
comprises a circuit substrate
7
and an IC chip
8
(refer to
FIG. 4
) mounted on the circuit substrate
7
. As shown in
FIG. 2
, a plurality of external connection terminals (electrodes)
4
are formed on the terminal surface of the module
2
. The external connection terminals
4
are formed by patterning a copper plate applied to the circuit substrate
7
by etching. It should be noted that the area indicated by double dashed chain lines in the center of each of the external connection terminals
4
in
FIG. 2
corresponds to an effective are of each of the external connection terminals
4
.
As shown in
FIG. 3
, the IC chip
8
is mounted on the mounting surface of the module
2
, and is encapsulated by seal resin. Antenna connection terminals
5
are formed on the mounting surface outside the seal resin
9
.
FIG. 4
is a plan view of the module
2
before the IC chip
8
is encapsulated by the seal resin
9
. The IC chip
8
is mounted on the center of the circuit substrate
7
. The electrodes of the IC chip
8
are connected to respective lead wires
10
formed on the mounting surface of the circuit substrate
7
by bonding wires
11
, respectively. The lead wires
10
are electrically connected to the respective external connection terminals
4
on the terminal surface of the circuit substrate
7
via respective through holes
12
.
A description will now be given, with reference to
FIG. 5
, of a process of incorporating the module
2
into the card body
1
. The card body
1
is previously provided with antenna
3
. A recess
1
a
is formed in a predetermined portion of the card body
1
. Opposite ends of the antenna
3
are exposed in the vicinity of the recess
1
a
so that the antenna connection terminals of the module
2
are connected thereto.
First, paste-like solder
13
is applied onto the antenna connection terminals
5
of the module
2
. Then, the module
2
is assembled to the card body
1
so that the seal resin
9
fits in the recess
1
a
of the card body
1
. At this time, the solder
13
on the antenna connection terminals
5
contacts the opposite ends.of the antenna
3
. In this state, a heating jig (solder iron) is pressed from the terminal surface side of the module
2
so as to melt the solder
13
by heat from the heating jig o connect the antenna connection terminals
5
and the ends of the antenna
3
to each other. The heating jig is configured and arranged to locally heat a portion corresponding to the antenna connection terminals
5
so that the heat provided by the heating jig is not transmitted to the IC chip
8
as much as possible. Additionally, since the card body
1
is formed of a plastic material having a relatively low heat resistance, the heating temperature must be controlled so that the temperature of the solder
13
does not exceed the melting point of the solder too much.
FIG. 6
is a side view of the module
2
for explaining the process of incorporating the module
2
into a sheet provided with antenna. In the case of
FIG. 6
, the antenna
3
is applied to the sheet
14
. The sheet
14
is provided with an opening
14
a
in which the seal resin
9
of the module
2
is fitted. The heating jig shown in
FIG. 6
is also configured and arranged to locally heat a portion corresponding to the antenna connection terminals
5
. Additionally, since the sheet
14
is formed of a material having a relatively low heat resistance, the heating temperature must be controlled so that the temperature of the solder
13
does not exceed the melting point of the solder too much.
However, in order to melt the solder
13
applied to the antenna connection terminals
5
provided on the mounting surface by heating from the terminal surface, side, there may be following problems.
1) In order to melt the solder
13
by making the heating jig in contact with the external connection terminals
4
, the heat must be transmitted through the circuit substrate
7
. However, the circuit substrate
7
is formed of a material, which has a relatively low thermal conductivity. Accordingly, in order to melt the solder
13
, the temperature of the heating jig must be raised or the heating time must be increased.
2) The external connection terminals
4
are formed of copper, which has a high thermal conductivity. Accordingly, the heat of the heating jig can easily transmit to a portion adjacent to the IC chip
8
, which results in heating of the IC chip
8
by the heat from the hating jig. The temperature rise in the IC chip
8
affect the reliability of the IC chip.
3) Since the soldering process is performed in a state in which the module
2
is assembled to the card body
1
or incorporated into the sheet provided with antenna, portions to be soldered by the solder
13
are covered by the circuit substrate
7
. Thus, the state of soldering cannot be checked by visual inspection.
4) If the amount of the solder
13
is in excess,
Honda Toshiyuki
Kaiya Hiroshi
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Fujitsu Limited
Le Thien M.
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