Registers – Records – Conductive
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-11
2002-04-30
Lee, Michael G. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Records
Conductive
C235S441000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06378774
ABSTRACT:
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 09-313944, filed Nov. 14, 1997; No. 09-313945, filed Nov. 14, 1997; and No. 09-313946, filed Nov. 14, 1997, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a smart card having both a function of a contact type in which reception of supply power, transmission/reception of signals, etc. are performed via an electrical contact, and a function of a non-contact type in which reception of supply power, transmission/reception of signals, etc. are performed without provision of an electrical contact, in an information recording medium represented by IC cards, etc. used in fields such as office automation (OA), factory automation (FA) or security. The present invention also relates to an IC module used for the smart card.
With the advent of IC cards including semiconductor memories, etc., information recording media with greatly increased memory capacities, compared to conventional magnetic cards, etc., have been realized. In addition, with internal provision of a semiconductor integrated circuit device such as a microcomputer, an IC card itself has an arithmetic process function and this provides high security to the information recording medium.
The IC cards are internationally standardized by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization). In general, in an IC card, an IC such as a semiconductor memory is built in a card body formed of a plastic material as a basic material and metallic conductive terminal electrodes are provided on a card surface for connection with an external read/write apparatus. In order to effect data communication between the IC card and external read/write apparatus, the IC card is inserted in a card slot of the external read/write apparatus and the terminal electrodes of the IC card are connected to the external read/write apparatus.
This is suitable for uses requiring security and safety for communication as in large-volume data exchange and banking processing, for example, uses for crediting and electronic wallets.
On the other hand, when the IC card is applied to gate management for entrance/exit, etc., the main purpose for communication is identification and in most cases the amount of communication data is small. Accordingly, simple processing is desired. To solve this problem, a non-contact type IC card has been devised.
With this type of IC card, an oscillation energy field of high-frequency electromagnetism, ultrasonics, light, etc. is provided in the space. The energy is absorbed and converted to an AC power. The AC power is rectified to a DC source for driving an electronic circuit provided in the card. The frequency of an AC component in the field may be used as it is, or multiplied or divided to produce an identification signal. The identification signal is transmitted as data to an information processing circuit formed of a semiconductor device via a coupler such as an antenna coil or a capacitive element.
In particular, most of non-contact type IC cards designed for identification or simple numerical data processing are associated with Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) of a hard logic which does not have a battery cell and a CPU (Central Processing Unit). With the advent of the non-contact type IC card, safety from forgery or falsification is enhanced, compared with magnetic cards. Moreover, when a carrier of the card passes through a gate, it should suffice if the carrier approaches the card to an antenna unit of the read/write apparatus attached to the gate apparatus or brings the card into contact with the antenna unit of the read/write apparatus. The carrier does not have to do time-consuming operations of taking the card out of the case and inserting it in the slot in the read/write apparatus.
Recently, in order to apply a single card to many purposes, a smart card has been devised which has the former contact type function with external terminals and the latter non-contact type function with radio-frequency data communication. This smart card has advantages of both types, i.e. high security of the contact type which is realized by CPU processing and convenience of the non-contact type. In either the non-contact type or the composite type, where a power supply is provided in the IC card, there is no need to obtain power from the aforementioned oscillation energy field in the space.
A general mounting method for the smart card will be described blow.
A metallic foil antenna coil for non-contact transmission, which is formed by etching, is sandwiched between a sheet with engagement hole for an IC module and a substrate. The structure is laminated to produce a card body. In this case, two antenna terminals for connection between the antenna coil and the IC module are exposed to an inside of the engagement hole in the card body.
Metallic terminal electrodes for connection with an external apparatus are provided on one surface of the IC module. The other surface is provided with an IC and terminals for connection with the antenna. A conductive adhesive is applied to the terminals. The IC module is mounted in the engagement hole in the card body such that the terminals with the conductive adhesive may overlap the antenna terminals of the card, and then the terminals of the IC module are connected to the antenna terminals with heat and pressure. Thus, the mounting is completed.
This mounting method is relatively simple. However, it is difficult to confirm the state of the connection portion between the IC module and antenna, and a problem remains with the reliability of connection. In addition, degradation in the connection portion may easily occur due to mechanical stress. Moreover, since a step for applying the conductive adhesive and a thermocompression step are required for the connection between the IC module and antenna, it is difficult to use an apparatus for manufacturing a conventional IC card with external terminals. It is thus necessary to provide a new manufacturing line.
In addition, in most of IC cards with the non-contact-type transmission mechanism, an emboss or a magnetic stripe cannot be applied due to restrictions of the coil shape, etc. for keeping reception power. In order to fully meet a demand on the market, the emboss and magnetic stripe have to be considered. Techniques which do not permit provision of an emboss or a magnetic stripe are restricted in the range of application.
A non-contact-type IC card disclosed, for example, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-227,447 permits provision of an emboss and a magnetic stripe. Specifically, a non-contact-type IC card having an outer shape according to ISO 7811 is provided. In order to provide a magnetic stripe and an emboss on the card, a communication IC module is constructed such that an IC mount portion, a power receiving coil and a data transmission/reception coil are arranged in a longitudinal direction on a region excluding the magnetic stripe region and embossing region.
The reception coil and communication coil of the communication IC module are comprised of single-layer coils formed by electrocasting. Both are buried in a single strip-like substrate. Lead portions for connection with pads of the IC chip are formed of each coil.
The IC chip is mounted on the strip-like substrate such that a circuit surface of the IC chip is opposed to the strip-like substrate. The lead portions are bump-bonded to the IC pads and a gap between the strip-like substrate and IC chip is filled with a potting resin for fixation. An inner end portion of the coil and an end portion of an internal-end lead are jumper-bonded by an enamel copper wire. The bonding is effected by instantaneous thermocompression and terminal portions are protected with potting resin.
A method of integrating this communication IC module and the card is described. According to this method, there are provided a first sheet for covering the upper surface, a second sheet having the same thickness as the st
Emori Susumu
Igarashi Susumu
Kobayashi Kazuo
Nakajima Hidemi
Armstrong, Westerman & Hattory, LLP
Kim Ahshik
Lee Michael G.
Toppan Printing Co. Ltd.
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