Active solid-state devices (e.g. – transistors – solid-state diode – Lead frame – On insulating carrier other than a printed circuit board
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-26
2003-09-09
Graybill, David E (Department: 2827)
Active solid-state devices (e.g., transistors, solid-state diode
Lead frame
On insulating carrier other than a printed circuit board
C257S676000, C257S679000, C438S118000, C438S123000, C438S125000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06617672
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the manufacture of portable electronic devices, including at least one integrated circuit chip embedded in a support and electrically connected to interface elements consisting of a connection terminal block.
These portable electronic devices constitute for example contact smart cards.
Smart cards are intended for performing various operations such as, for example, banking or telephone communication operations, various identification operations, or operations of the cash dispensing type.
Contact cards have metallisations flush with the surface of the card, disposed at a precise point on the card body, defined by the usual standard ISO 7816. These metallisations are intended to come into contact with the reading head of a reader with a view to electrical transmission of data.
As currently produced, smart cards are thin portable elements with standard dimensions. ISO 7810 corresponds to a card with a standard format 85 mm long, 54 mm wide and 0.76 mm thick.
The majority of smart card manufacturing processes are based on the assembly of the integrated circuit chip in a subassembly known as a micromodule which is inset, that is to say placed in a cavity provided in a card body, using techniques known to experts.
A conventional method is illustrated in FIG.
1
. Such a method consists in gluing an integrated circuit chip
10
by disposing its active face with its contact pads
11
upwards, and gluing its opposite face to a dielectric support sheet
15
. The dielectric sheet
15
is itself disposed on a contact grid
18
such as a nickel- and gold-plated copper metallic plate for example. Connection wells
16
are formed in the dielectric sheet
15
in order to enable connection wires
17
to connect the contact pads
11
of the chip
10
to the connection areas on the grid
18
.
According to certain variants, it is possible to glue the chip
10
, with its active face upwards, directly on the contact grid
18
, and then to connect it by hard wiring
17
.
In such a variant, the grid
18
is deposited on a dielectric support
15
and the contact and connection areas on the said grid are defined by chemical etching or any other known means.
A protection or encapsulation step then protects the chip
10
and the soldered connection wires
17
. Use is generally made of a technique known as “glob top” in English terminology, which designates the coating of the chip from above. This technique consists in pouring a drop of resin
20
, based on epoxy for example, thermosetting or cross-linking under ultraviolet, onto the chip
10
and its connection wires
17
.
The dielectric support
15
with the chip
10
glued and protected by the resin
20
, is cut in order to constitute a micromodule
100
, which is inset in the cavity of a previously decorated card body. This insetting operation can be effected by depositing a liquid glue in the cavity of the card body before adding the micromodule.
FIG. 2
illustrates another insetting technique. The card body
110
is produced according to a conventional method, for example, by the injection of plastics material into a mould. The cavity
120
is obtained either by milling the card body, or by injection at the time of manufacture of the card body in an adapted mould.
A thermoactivatable adhesive film
23
is deposited by lamination on the dielectric film
15
preferentially before the cutting of the micromodule
100
. The latter is inset in the cavity
120
in the card body
110
and glued by reactivating the thermoactivable adhesive
23
by hot pressing by means of a press
24
whose shape is adapted to that of the cavity
120
.
The known technologies of manufacturing smart cards have many drawbacks.
In particular, the standard technology uses expensive techniques and a high-quality dielectric. The dielectric used is generally made from an epoxy glass composite or from Kapton.
This is because the dielectric chosen must have properties of good resistance to temperature in order to be compatible with the insetting techniques described previously.
In addition, the geometric definition of the different contact and connection areas is generally obtained by chemical etching of the metallic grid deposited uniformly on the dielectric support. However, chemical etching is an expensive operation.
The French patent No 2 632 100 describes another method for manufacturing a smart card.
Such a method is illustrated in FIG.
3
and uses a conductive frame (lead frame in English) to which the integrated circuit chip is directly fixed. This lead frame is obtained by cropping or punching from a continuous metallic strip, which makes it possible to dispense with the chemical etching operation.
Contact areas
19
a
and connection areas
19
b
have been defined in each lead frame of the metallic strip
18
.
The method described in this patent consists essentially in laminating a first insulating strip
50
on the external face of the metallic grid
18
, which leaves the contact areas
19
a
free, and laminating two other insulating strips
52
and
54
on the internal face of the grid
18
, which surround the connection areas
19
b
of the chip
10
. The chip is then fixed to the internal face of the grid by hard wiring or according to a conventional method of a turned-over chip (“flip chip” in English terminology).
This technique makes it necessary to laminate three strips of insulating material on the metallic grid, which requires great precision in indexing.
In addition, the external insulating strip
50
is fixed temporarily, and is in fact intended to be removed after the use of the card.
In addition, the protection of the chip
10
and of its connection wires
17
by coating in a resin is not easy due to the two insulating strips
52
and
54
situated on the internal face of the grid
11
on each side of the chip
10
.
Finally, this technique does not afford a complete solution to the problem of the choice of the dielectric since the latter must always have thermal properties compatible with the conventional insetting techniques.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to mitigate the drawbacks of the prior art.
To this end, the present invention proposes a method for manufacturing a smart card making it possible to use inexpensive materials and in particular a low-quality dielectric.
In particular, the present invention proposes to fix a dielectric support film not to the bottom face of the grid but to the top face of the grid, the dielectric film having the shape of a strip with a width such that it can be disposed between the ISO contact areas of the metallic grid.
The object of the present invention is more particularly a method for manufacturing a contact smart card, characterised in that it includes the following steps:
supplying a dielectric support film in strip form;
producing a metallic grid defining contact areas on its top face, and connection areas on its bottom face;
removable fixing of the dielectric support film to the top face of the metallic grid so as to leave the contact areas of the grid free;
gluing the chip and connection to the connection areas of the grid;
cutting the metallic grid in order to obtain a micromodule and attaching the said micromodule in the cavity of a card body.
According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the metallic grid is arched, the dielectric strip being fixed in the arch so as to place the said strip flush with the contact areas of the grid whilst leaving the latter free.
According to one particularity, the dielectric strip has an adhesive face, not peelable at room temperature, intended to be fixed integrally to the metallic grid.
According to one embodiment, the dielectric strip is fixed to the metallic grid by lamination.
According to a variant embodiment, the dielectric strip consists of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
According to a variant embodiment, the dielectric strip consists of an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
According to a variant embodiment, the dielectric strip consists of paper.
According to a var
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Gemplus
Graybill David E
LandOfFree
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