IC card and its frame

Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C361S736000, C361S728000, C361S808000, C361S809000, C361S820000, C174S050510, C174S050510, C257S679000, C257S780000, C257S781000, C257S782000, C257S783000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06252777

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an IC card and a frame used in the IC card. More particularly, the present invention relates to an IC card and a frame used in the IC card having a plane coil-formed by punching or etching, in which a conductor line is wound a plurality of times on substantially the same plane, and terminals of the plane coil and electrode terminals of a semiconductor element are electrically connected to each other in the IC card.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND ART
An IC card is composed of a plane coil, in which a conductor line is wound a plurality of times, and a semiconductor element. The plane coil and other parts are enclosed and sealed by an adhesive layer made of polyurethane which is formed inside a resin film made of PVC, which forms a front surface and a back surface of the IC card, and letters are printed on a surface of the resin film.
When the thus formed IC card passes through a magnetic field formed by a card processor, electric power is generated by electromagnetic induction caused in the plane coil of the IC card. Therefore, the semiconductor element is started by the generated electric power, so that communication can be performed between the semiconductor element of the IC card and the card processor via the plane coil which functions as an antenna.
Concerning the conventional plane coil incorporated into the IC card, there is provided an insulated plane coil which is formed in such a manner that an insulation covered electric wire is wound, and also there is provided a plane coil which is formed in such a manner that a conductor line is formed when metallic foil formed on a resin film is etched.
In this connection, in order to promote the spread of IC cards, it is necessary to reduce the cost of IC cards and also it is necessary to mass-produce them. However, in the case of the above IC card in which the conventional plane coil is used, it is difficult to reduce the cost of the plane coil. Also, it is difficult to sufficiently mass-produce IC cards.
Therefore, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-310324 discloses an IC card into which a plane coil, which is formed by punching, is incorporated.
As proposed in the above patent publication, when the plane coil is formed by punching, the cost of the IC card can be reduced and the IC card can be mass-produced as compared with the IC card into which the conventional plane coil is incorporated.
FIG. 50
is a view showing a conventional plane coil
100
formed by punching. In this plane coil
100
, terminals
102
and
104
are respectively formed inside and outside the coil.
Due to the above structure, a wire
114
, which is one of the wires
112
,
114
for connecting the terminals
102
,
104
of the plane coil
100
with the electrode terminals
108
,
110
of the semiconductor element
106
, crosses a conductor wire
101
which forms the plane coil
100
. Accordingly, when insulating covered wires are used for the wires
112
,
114
, the cost is raised, and a reduction in the cost of the IC card is difficult.
On the other hand, when a non-insulating wire is used for the wire
112
which does not cross the plane coil
100
and when an insulating covered wire is used for the wire
114
which crosses the plane coil
100
, it becomes necessary to use two types of wires, and the manufacturing process of IC cards becomes complicated. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the cost of IC cards and mass-produce them.
Since the thickness of the IC card is not more than 1 mm, it is necessary to form a very thin IC card. Further, plane coils formed by punching must be easy to handle when they are transported, and semiconductor elements must be appropriately incorporated into the plane coils.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The first task to be accomplished by the present invention is to provide an IC card into which a plane coil formed by punching is incorporated and the cost of the IC card can be reduced and, further, the IC card can be subjected to mass production.
The second task to be accomplished by the present invention is to provide a frame for an IC card which can be easily mass-produced and transported, and further the frame can be used for a thin IC card. Also, the second task to be accomplished by the present invention is to provide an IC card which can be easily mass-produced and the thickness of which can be appropriately decreased.
In order to accomplish the above first task, the present inventors have investigated and found the following. In general, a surface of a semiconductor element except for an electrode terminal is covered with a passivation film, so that it is electrically insulated. Therefore, a portion of the semiconductor element except for the electrode terminal may be contacted with a conductor line of the plane coil, and when the electrode terminal of the semiconductor element is arranged on the plane coil side, the terminal of the plane coil can be arranged close to the electrode terminal of the semiconductor element.
Therefore, the present inventors arranged the semiconductor element
106
so that the electrode terminals
108
,
110
could be located on the conductor line
101
side with respect to the plane coil
100
, and the electrode terminals
108
,
110
of the semiconductor element
106
were bonded to the terminals
102
,
104
of the plane coil
100
with wires. In this IC card, it is unnecessary to cover the wire, for the purpose of insulation, which connects the plane coil
100
with the semiconductor element
106
, and a method of wedge bonding, which is conventionally used as a bonding method of bonding a semiconductor element to an inner lead of a lead frame, can be adopted. Due to the above knowledge, the present inventors accomplished the present invention.
The present invention to accomplish the above first task provides an IC card comprising: a plane coil in which a conductor wire is wound a plurality of times in substantially the same plane, the plane coil being formed by punching or etching; and a semiconductor element having electrode terminals to which ends of the plane coil are electrically connected, wherein the plane coil includes an inside terminal formed inside the coil and an outside terminal formed outside the coil, the semiconductor element is arranged in such a manner that a face of the element on which the electrode terminals are formed is opposed to the conductor line of the plane coil, the respective electrode terminals of the semiconductor element connected to the inside terminal and the outside terminal of the plane coil are respectively located at positions adjacent to the inside terminal and the outside terminal of the plane coil, and the electrode terminals of the semiconductor element are electrically connected to the respective terminals of the plane coil located on the same side with respect to the inside and outside of the coil.
In order to accomplish the above second task, the present inventors arranged the semiconductor element
106
with respect to the plane coil
100
so that a plane of the semiconductor element
106
on the back side with respect to a plane on which the electrode terminals
108
,
110
were formed could be located on the conductor line
101
side, and the electrode terminals
108
,
110
of the semiconductor element
106
were respectively bonded to the terminals
101
,
103
of the plane coil
100
. The present inventors found the following. In this IC card, it is unnecessary to cover the wires, for insulation, which connect the plane coil
101
with the semiconductor element
106
, and a method of wedge bonding, which is conventionally used as a bonding method of bonding the semiconductor element to an inner lead of a lead frame, can be adopted.
The present invention to accomplish the above second task provides an IC card comprising: a plane coil in which a conductor wire is wound a plurality of times in substantially the same plane; and a semiconductor element having electrode terminals to which ends of the plane coil are electrically connected, wherein the plane coil includes an insi

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

IC card and its frame does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with IC card and its frame, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and IC card and its frame will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2525361

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.