Registers – Records – Laminated
Patent
1989-02-27
1992-03-17
Levy, Stuart S.
Registers
Records
Laminated
235492, G06K 1902, G06K 1906
Patent
active
050971174
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an electronic microcircuit card and a method for manufacturing it. More particularly, it applies to the manufacture of a portable card the thickness of which meets the standard for credit cards of the International Standards Organization (ISO).
An electronic microcircuit card is a small rectangular one-piece or multi-layer plate of plastic material, which incorporates electronic microcircuits and on its outside has contacts for the connection of the electronic microcircuits with a card processing apparatus. These microcircuits may be intended for quite various functions, for instance such banking operations as debiting and crediting, billing of telephone call units, and confidential input into a secure medium. Typically, they comprise processing circuits and/or memory circuits which are more or less complex depending on their intended use. In practice, they are formed on at least one small silicon plate, currently known as an integrated circuit or chip.
The invention applies in particular to a card such as that described in French Patent No. 2 337 381 (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,577 and 4,222,516), for example, of the present Applicant. One face of a printed circuit is provided with an integrated circuit, and the other face has the contacts of the card. In an exemplary embodiment, the card is made simply of a one-piece small plate, one face of which gradually has a peripheral indented zone, beginning at a deep cavity, and a step surrounding the indented zone. The integrated circuit is accommodated in the cavity, and the printed circuit is distributed over the indented zone. A foil covering the printed circuit and thus forming a cover cap is affixed to the step. The foil has its outer face substantially coplanar with the corresponding face of the small plate and includes openings that correspond with the contacts of the printed circuit. The use of the card is thus accomplished by connecting the contacts via the openings in the foil.
In a variant embodiment described in the prior art patent named above, the small plate has no indented step, and the foil covering the printed circuit covers the entire corresponding face of the small plate. Thus the card comprises the small plate and the foil. The contacts remain accessible through openings in the foil.
Another variant embodiment is described in European Patent Application No. 0 207 852, for example, of the present Applicant. The printed circuit is made of a thin ribbon, the end of one face of which has the integrated circuit and the other end of the other face of which has the contacts of the card. Thus the contacts are offset relative to the integrated circuit. This arrangement may be preferred for several reasons, in particular in order to meet the standards for placement of contacts on the long median of the card. Because the printed circuit has offset contacts, the integrated circuit can remain in one corner of the card, where the strains of flexion and torsion are markedly less than at the level of the contacts However, if the printed circuit is to be attained simply and at low cost, it must be covered with a foil provided with openings corresponding with the contacts. The foil may simply be a cover cap, or may extend over the entire face of the small plate.
These exemplary embodiments demonstrate that often the manufacture of an electronic microcircuit card requires the use of a foil provided with openings, for access to the contacts of the card that are carried by the printed circuit. The thickness of the foil for access to the contacts has several disadvantages. First, numerous applications of the card require that a finishing film be applied to the foil; second, to lend the foil good mechanical strength, so as to protect the printed circuit, the minimum thickness of the foil must be relatively great. It follows that the contacts are located at a relatively great depth in the surface of the card, for example a depth greater than 0.1 mm. Considering the various methods of manufacture of cards that can be used by an apparatus, the conn
REFERENCES:
patent: 4216577 (1980-08-01), Badet et al.
patent: 4222516 (1980-09-01), Badet et al.
patent: 4549247 (1985-10-01), Hoppe et al.
patent: 4682017 (1987-07-01), Nakahara et al.
patent: 4737620 (1988-04-01), Mollet et al.
patent: 4792843 (1988-12-01), Haghiri-Tehrani
patent: 4795895 (1989-01-01), Hara et al.
patent: 4822989 (1989-04-01), Miyamoto et al.
IEEE International Electronic Manufacturing Technology Symposium, San Francisco, 15-17 Sep. 1986, M. Ohuchi et al.: "A New LSI Interconnection Method for IC Card", pp. 30-33.
Champagne Daniel
Le Loc'h Alain
Bull CP8
Levy Stuart S.
Nguyen Tan
LandOfFree
Electronic microcircuit card and method for its manufacture does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Electronic microcircuit card and method for its manufacture, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electronic microcircuit card and method for its manufacture will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1477620