Active solid-state devices (e.g. – transistors – solid-state diode – Housing or package – Smart card package
Patent
1994-08-15
1996-11-12
Crane, Sara W.
Active solid-state devices (e.g., transistors, solid-state diode
Housing or package
Smart card package
257698, H01L 2302
Patent
active
055743099
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to integrated circuit cards, also known as "smart cards" or "chip cards", comprising an integrated circuit that is positioned in the thickness of the card and is accessible from the outside by means of a standardized connector to enable various functions to be fulfilled. These cards are now well known and have many functions such as providing access to public telephone booths or enabling the distribution of money in cash-dispensing machines.
At present, the integrated circuit is generally bonded to a piece of printed circuit that constitutes a flexible package and has tracks to which it is joined by connection wires. The tracks of the printed circuit are etched so as to form the standardized connector designed to supply the chip with electricity and exchange the necessary signals with it. The unit is integrated into the thickness of the card which is generally constituted by a layering of laminated plastic sheets. The external layer on the connector side is cut out so as to leave access to the tracks forming this connector.
The chip is generally protected by the material constituting the card with, if need be, the interposition of a layer of relatively soft material between the chip and the card. This soft layer is positioned either during the manufacture of the card or during the fixing of the chip to the printed circuit. This layer is formed, for example, by a layer of encapsulating resin that is then polymerized. As a variant, the integrated circuit is itself reinforced, for example by the bonding of a cobalt wafer beneath the semiconductor substrate of the integrated circuit. This protection is further increased if the material constituting the printed circuit is replaced by a plate of resin reinforced with glass fibers. However, this type of mechanical protection is still insufficient.
During its lifetime, which may be very long, a chip card is subjected to numerous stresses both when it is not being used and when it is being used. Thus, it may be carried in a user's pocket and subjected to all sorts of external forces. Furthermore, when it is used, it is inserted into a card reader that exerts a pressure on it. This pressure may be far from negligible and may vary from one reader to another. Furthermore the card, during the operations in which it is inserted into the reader and extracted therefrom, is frequently subjected to bending or twisting motions.
Experience shows that the chip-protecting means used until now have not been completely satisfactory, especially for cards designed to be used for lengthy periods as is the case, for example, with a card containing personal data such as a medical file for example. In the invention, a package is thus used to contain the integrated circuit and also to act as a rigidity element. Thus, the constraints of electrical insulation, which are necessary to obtain the independence of the different metallizations, are met by making the package out of ceramic. This very rigid package then, unfortunately, cannot be used in a mass production system wherein, for example, all the empty packages would be placed on a continuous conveyer belt moving past an insertion and micro-connection machine. This, on the contrary, is the case when the printed circuit is made in a conventional way. The belt or band is in this case formed by the material of the printed circuit. To resolve this problem, the manufacturing line is modified completely by using shuttles in which empty packages made of ceramic are placed. These shuttles are, each in its turn, presented to the insertion machines which then line each package in the shuttle with an integrated circuit and connect it.
To increase the protection of the chip, the invention therefore proposes an integrated circuit card, of the type comprising an integrated circuit positioned inside a card and connected to means of connection with the exterior, and comprising a package to hold this integrated circuit comprising a cavity that opens into one of its faces and makes it possible to receive the integrated circ
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Fidalgo Jean-Christophe
Papapietro Michel
Turin Jel
Clark S. V.
Crane Sara W.
Gemplus Card International
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