Memory card and method of producing same

Details Memory card and method of producing same Memory card and method of producing same

1996-05-01

1998-11-17

Kiliman, Leszek

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or...

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428336, 428480, 428694R, 428694T, 428694TS, 428694TR, 428 67, 428137, 428138, 428900, 427127, 427131, 427132, 361748, 361749, 361750, 361751, 283 83, 2041922, G11B 566

Patent

active

058373675

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to memory cards of the type used as prepaid cards for dispensing goods and/or services, and to an improved method for producing such cards.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prepaid memory cards which enable their owner to perform purchases without the use of cash or tokens have become very popular. Typically, such cards have been used to obtain a variety of goods and/or services, as for example, in vending machines for beverages or food, in prepayment: of public transportation such as buses, trains or subways, or for use with public telephones or photocopy machines.
Typically, the memory cards are one of several types: magnetically readable cards, microcircuit cards, and contactless cards. Magnetically readable cards have a magnetic stripe located on the outer surface where information, such as remaining value of the card, is stored. They have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive, and have been used successfully, for example, as fare cards for transit systems. However, this type of card is of limited usefulness as a prepaid card for security reasons. The magnetically encoded information stored on the cards is capable of being accidentally erased or intentionally altered by unauthorized persons to increase the units originally contained on the memory card.
Microcircuit cards have a memory device such as an integrated circuit or printed circuit embedded into the card which, through suitable electrical contacts, can be connected to an external reader for determining the remaining value of the card. Examples of such microcircuit cards may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,737,620 to Mollet et al. and 4,719,140 to Hara et al. Although much more resistant to tampering than, magnetically readable cards, microcircuit cards have the disadvantage of being relatively expensive. Therefore, they are not well suited to be used for denominations of relatively small monetary value.
Contactless cards do not have any contacts for physically making connection to an external reader device. Instead, contactless cards utilize means such as inductive and/or capacitive coupling for providing an external reader device with signals indicative of the monetary value of the card. Examples of contactless cards may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,596 to Honore et al. and Brazilian Patent Specifications PI 9105585 and PI 9201380.
Typically, memory cards are intended to be used only until the prepaid monetary value of the card has been exhausted. Once this monetary amount has been spent by the user, the card is either recycled or thrown away. For instance, when used with public telephones, the memory card is purchased for a predetermined monetary value which is stored in the card and the monetary value is decremented as and when the card is used.
With all types of prepaid memory cards, the cost of the card is a limiting factor in determining the practical uses or applications for prepaid memory cards. Typically, the use of prepaid memory cards is practical only where the total monetary value represented by the card exceeds the cost of the card itself. Thus, if the cost of the card can be reduced, this opens the possibility for issuing smaller denomination (lower total monetary value) cards in the many existing applications where prepaid cards are presently used, and also expands the number of potential applications or uses where prepaid memory cards could be used.
However, manufacturers are faced with a very significant challenge in reducing manufacturing costs without undesirable sacrifice in the overall quality, reliability and durability of the memory card. The nature of the materials and manufacturing techniques currently being used can result in stiff or brittle memory cards. Consequently, bending of the memory card during typical use may cause damage to or destruction of portions of the memory card.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to produce a memory card at reduced overall cost.
It is a further object of the present inven

REFERENCES:
patent: 3616406 (1971-10-01), Turner
patent: 3627662 (1971-12-01), Feuersanger
patent: 4719140 (1988-01-01), Hara et al.
patent: 4737620 (1988-04-01), Mollet et al.
patent: 4756795 (1988-07-01), Bakos et al.
patent: 4929320 (1990-05-01), Yamada et al.
patent: 5063120 (1991-11-01), Edmonson et al.
patent: 5260254 (1993-11-01), Hotta et al.
patent: 5264689 (1993-11-01), Maes et al.
patent: 5272536 (1993-12-01), Honore
patent: 5272596 (1993-12-01), Honore et al.
patent: 5320769 (1994-06-01), Kinoshita et al.

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