Coating processes – Direct application of electrical – magnetic – wave – or...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-20
2001-08-28
Beck, Shrive P. (Department: 1762)
Coating processes
Direct application of electrical, magnetic, wave, or...
C427S096400, C427S226000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06280797
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of identification markings. More particularly, the invention is a method and composition of matter for forming a tamper-indicating identification coating on electronic parts.
2. Background Art
Electronic goods are prevalent in modern civilization and range from simple toys to high technology computers and other devices. Most electronic goods contain electronic parts that are soldered onto printed circuit cards or boards. Electronic parts range from simple, inexpensive devices to complex, costly integrated circuit chips. As with most goods, electronic goods and parts generally bear a warranty for specified amounts of time, ranging from months to years. The range of time depends on the failure rate and expense of the parts as well as other business considerations such as the quality to be associated with the goods and parts.
Typically, all the parts on a given card bear the same warranty rather than individual parts on the card having separate warranties or warranty periods. Accordingly, if a card becomes defective within the warranty period the entire card is replaced. At times, the part that fails on the card is the most expensive part, such as an integrated circuit chip. When a card that is outside its warranty period becomes defective due to failure of its most expensive part, there is an opportunity and motivation for fraud on the manufacturer of the card. Such cards may bear little or no value depending on the relative cost of the remaining non-defective parts. Typically, cards bear some sort of label or means for tracking the card to determine whether the card is inside or outside of its warranty period. However, a card is made up of multiple small parts that cannot be tracked individually without significant effort and expense. Accordingly, while cards can be identified as outside a warranty, individual parts generally cannot.
Due to the circumstances described above, it is possible for a defective part from an out-of-warranty card to be removed and used to replace the same type of non-defective part on an in-warranty card. The in-warranty card with the out-of-warranty defective part is then sent away for repair or replacement. At times, resoldering of the defective part gives the solder an appearance that differs enough from the original solder for the manufacturer to detect tampering, however, techniques are available to avoid that detection. Unless the fraudulent act is discovered, the manufacturer will pay to repair or replace the card whereas, otherwise, the manufacturer would gain revenue from the sale of a new card. This type of warranty fraud is relatively pervasive throughout the electronics industry.
Turning to
FIG. 2
, one technique manufacturers are currently using to prevent warranty fraud includes a self-destruct label
200
. Self-destruct label
200
is simply a strip of material coated with an adhesive wherein one end of label
200
is adhered to the electronic part (e.g. integrated circuit chip
100
) and the other end is adhered to a circuit card
110
. Label
200
is sufficiently fragile that, if an attempt is made to remove label
200
, it will appear damaged. By this means, tampering is detected, however, the labels are relatively expensive and some labels can be counterfeited. Also, some labels may give a false positive indication of tampering because the label usually spans a gap
210
between chip
100
and card
110
. Because of its fragility, the portion of label
200
that spans gap
210
and is not adhered either to chip
100
or card
110
may become damaged just from handling the card
110
.
Another current technique involves thermochromic materials, that is, coatings that change color in response to being exposed to a given temperature. Specifically, the techniques for resoldering a defective part onto an in-warranty card expose the part to heat. If the part is coated with a thermochronic material that changes color when the part is exposed to the heat associated with resoldering, then tampering can be detected. However, once the color change occurs, it will be visibly apparent and the part can simply be recoated with any material that restores the original color.
Thus, it can be seen from the above discussion that it would be an improvement in the art to provide an inexpensive, reliable means for detecting the presence of out-of-warranty electronic parts on in-warranty circuit cards. Without a means of detecting when parts have been replaced on a circuit card, the computer and electronics industry will continue to suffer extensive revenue loss due to warranty fraud.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a material and a method for forming a tamper-indicating identification coating. The components of the coating are selected such that the coating exhibits a characteristic (i.e., nearly unique) absorption spectrum with distinct features in individual regions during Fourier-transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. All compounds have a highly characteristic absorption spectrum, however, in practice it can be difficult to reliably distinguish one complex compound from another similar compound. Also, in mixtures of compounds, the spectral absorptions of different compounds in the mixture may interfere with one another to yield a spectrum that is difficult to decipher. The coating components are selected to provide a distinct spectrum while, at the same time, providing a sufficiently complex spectrum such that the coating is difficult to duplicate. It may be technically possible to duplicate the spectrum, but duplication can be rendered difficult enough that doing so requires substantial effort, exceeding the value of benefits derived from duplication. Thus, according to a preferred embodiment, the absorption spectrum becomes a sort of “fingerprint” indicative of the presence of a coating having a unique composition known only to the originating manufacturer.
Also, a preferred embodiment provides that at least one blowing agent in the coating decomposes from the heat associated with resoldering of an electronic part marked with the identification coating. If the decomposition is sufficient to change the absorption spectrum of the coating as to at least one distinct feature in at least one individual region, then the identification coating is considered tamper-indicating. That is, if an attempt is made to resolder an out-of-warranty, coated, electronic part onto an in-warranty circuit card or board, then the FTIR spectrum will change to indicate the tampering.
In addition, the coating may contain a fluorophore to reveal the presence of a tamper-indicating identification coating. The fluorophore allows a manufacturer to check the card by exposure with ultra-violet (UV) light, causing the coating to fluoresce whenever a fluorophore-loaded coating is present. By this means a manufacturer can be certain parts have been coated properly before shipping them to customers. Also, a manufacturer can quickly screen out circuit cards returned for repair or replacement that obviously are not coated.
Because a wide variety of components may be selected to yield a suitable “fingerprint” absorption spectrum, the coating composition may be changed periodically to provide a date marker. That is, if the periodic changes in composition are tracked with respect to date of use, then a manufacturer will know approximately when an individual electronic part was coated.
It is an advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention that a distinct fingerprint for an identification coating is provided.
It is also an advantage that the fingerprint is difficult to duplicate.
It is a further advantage that the fingerprint is altered by attempts to resolder an out-of-warranty part to an in-warranty circuit card.
It is a still further advantage that the coating includes a fluorophore that will fluoresce when exposed to UV light to reveal the presence of the coating.
It is an additional advantage that the coating composition can be periodically al
Kuczynski Joseph Paul
Lewis David Otto
Beck Shrive P.
Crockford Kirsten A.
International Business Machines - Corporation
Pitts S. Jared
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