Standardized information card - Patent Review 4222516

What we claim is:

1. A standardized information card comprising: a sheet having a predetermined surface area and a predetermined maximum thickness; said sheet having a top face, a bottom face and reference data on said top face, an integrated circuit assembly comprising a substrate having a surface area and a thickness substantially smaller than said predetermined surface area and said predetermined maximum thickness of said sheet, respectively, and an electronic device carried on at least one major surface of said substrate, said electronic device having a plurality of terminals on a predetermined major surface area and an array of conductors which extends from said terminals toward terminal areas adjacent the peripheral portion of said substrate and which are connected with respective terminal areas; said sheet including a cavity of an area substantially greater than said predetermined major surface area of said electronic device for said substrate with said electronic device and said array of conductors, said cavity including a chamber for said device, said substrate being disposed against one face of said sheet and said card having electrical terminals corresponding to said respective terminal areas of said array of conductors on said substrate and aperture means adjacent said cavity for accessing to said respective terminal areas.

2. A card according to claim 1, wherein said sheet has a first general thickness smaller than said maximum thickness and a protuberance, said cavity being disposed in the proturberance of said sheet which culminates at a level such that the total thickness of the sheet and proturberance is at most equal to said maximum predetermined thickness.

3. A card according to claim 2, wherein said protuberance is an embossed formation from a portion of said sheet and having a thickness substantially equal to said thickness of said sheet.

4. A card according to claim 1 wherein said top face has a protuberance and a cap on said top face covers, said sheet and said substrate in the area of said cavity, the total thickness of said cap and sheet being less than the total thickness of said sheet and protuberance.

5. A card according to claim 1, wherein said cavity is a hole passing through said sheet and having closure means.

6. A card according to claim 5, wherein said closure means is a plug comprising an electrically insulating filling material surrounding said electronic device.

7. A card according to claim 5, wherein said closure means is a plate fixed to said sheet.

8. A card according to claim 1, wherein said cavity comprises a first shallow depression adjacent said chamber and one face of said sheet and having an area for receiving said substrate.

9. A card according to claim 8, wherein the periphery of said substrate is fixed within said first shallow depression of said sheet.

10. A card according to claim 1, including sealing cover means overlying said substrate for maintaining said substrate in said chamber, the periphery of said sealing cover means being fixed to said sheet.

11. A card according to claim 10, wherein said sealing cover means comprises a cover having a greater area than that of said substrate and further including a first shallow depression adjacent said chamber and on one face of said sheet and a second shallow depression extending from said first shallow depression means, said substrate being disposed in the first shallow depression and said cover overlying said substrate and being received in said second shallow depression.

12. A card according to claim 10, wherein said sealing cover means is an additional sheet extending over said predetermined surface area of said sheet and bonded thereto.

13. A card according to claim 10, wherein said sheet has a first general thickness smaller than said maximum thickness and said sealing cover means is a cap shaped for enclosing said electronic device and culminating at a level such that the total thickness of the sheet and cap enclosed electronic device is almost equal to said maximum thickness.

14. A card according to claim 10, wherein said sheet has a first general thickness smaller than said maximum thickness and said sealing cover means is a substantially plane cover disposed such that the total thickness of the sheet and plane cover is at most equal to said maximum thickness.

15. A card according to claim 10, wherein said sealing cover means is of a material stiffer than the substrate.

16. A card according to claim 1, wherein said aperture means extend through said sheet.

17. A card according to claim 10, wherein aperture means are provided through said sealing cover means.

18. A card according to claim 1, wherein said aperture means are filled with an electrically conductive material.

19. A card according to claim 1, wherein said aperture means includes a plurality of apertures and each of said terminal areas of said conductors on said substrate is coupled to at least two apertures of said aperture means.

20. A card according to claim 19, wherein each of said terminal areas of said conductors comprises at least two superposed terminal areas respectively disposed on the two faces of said substrate, and said coupled apertures respectively open onto the two major surfaces of said card.

21. A card according to claim 19, wherein each of said terminals of said electronic device is coupled to two separated adjacent conductors of said array of conductors, said two separated adjacent conductors terminating by two separated adjacent terminal areas, and said coupled apertures are adjacent and opened onto one face of said card while respectively corresponding to said separated adjacent terminal areas.

22. A card according to claim 19, wherein each of said terminals of said electronic device is coupled to one conductor of said array of conductors which ends by one terminal area, and said at least two apertures are adjacent and opened onto one face of said card while corresponding to said one terminal area.

23. A card according to claim 1, wherein said sheet is a flexible material and said cavity is arranged adjacent a corner of said card for reducing stresses applied to said substrate together with said electronic device and said array of conductors when the sheet is handled.

24. A card according to claim 1, wherein the face of said electronic device which carries said terminals has a substance which cannot be removed from the device without impairing the operation of said device.

25. A standardized information card comprising: a sheet having a predetermined surface area and a predetermined maximum thickness; said sheet having a top face, a bottom face and a protuberance and reference data on said top face, an integrated circuit assembly comprising a substrate having a surface area and a thickness substantially smaller than said predetermined surface area and said predetermined maximum thickness of said sheet, respectively, and an electronic device carried on at least one major surface of said substrate, said electronic device having a plurality of terminals on a predetermined major surface area and an array of conductors which extends from said terminals toward terminal areas adjacent the peripheral portion of said substrate and which are connected with respective terminal areas; said sheet including a cavity of an area substantially greater than said predetermined major surface area of said electronic device for said substrate with said electronic device and said array of conductors, said cavity including a chamber for said device; said substrate being disposed against one face of said sheet, a cap on said top face covering said sheet and said substrate in the area of said cavity, the total thickness of said cap and sheet being less than the total thickness of said sheet and protuberance, and said card having electrical terminals corresponding to said respective terminal areas of said array of conductors on said substrate and aperture means adjacent said cavity for accessing to said respective terminal areas.

26. A card according to claim 25, wherein said sheet has a first general thickness smaller than said maximum thickness and a protuberance in the area of said first thickness, said cavity being disposed in the protuberance of said sheet which culminates at a level at most equal to said maximum thickness level.

27. A card according to claim 26, wherein said protuberance is an embossed formation from a portion of said sheet and having a second thickness substantially equal to said first thickness.

28. A card according to claim 25, wherein said cavity is a hole passing through said sheet and having closure means.

29. A card according to claim 28, wherein said closure means is a plug comprising an electrically insulating filling material surrounding said electronic device.

30. A card according to claim 28, wherein said closure means is a plate fixed to said sheet.

31. A card according to claim 25, wherein said cavity means further comprises shallow depression means adjacent to said cavity and including a first shallow depression having an area for receiving said substrate.

32. A card according to claim 31, wherein the periphery of said substrate is fixed to said first shallow depression of said sheet.

33. A standardized information card comprising: a sheet having a predetermined surface area and a predetermined maximum thickness; said sheet having a top face, a bottom face and reference data on said top face, an integrated circuit assembly comprising a substrate having a surface area and a thickness substantially smaller than said predetermined surface area and said predetermined maximum thickness of said sheet, respectively, and an electronic device carried on at least one major surface of said substrate, said electronic device having a plurality of terminals on a predetermined major surface area and an array of conductors which extends from said terminals toward terminal areas adjacent the peripheral portion of said substrate and which are connected with respective terminal areas; said sheet including a cavity of an area substantially greater than said predetermined major surface area of said electronic device for said substrate with said electronic device and said array of conductors, said cavity including a chamber for said device; sealing cover means overlying said substrate for maintaining said substrate in said chamber, the periphery of said sealing cover means being fixed to said sheet, said substrate being disposed against one face of said sheet and said card having electrical terminals corresponding to said respective terminal areas of said array of conductors on said substrate and aperture means adjacent said cavity for accessing to said respective terminal areas.

34. A card according to claim 33, wherein said sealing cover means comprises a cover having a greater area than that of said substrate and further including a first shallow depression adjacent said chamber and on one face of said sheet and a second shallow depression extending from said first shallow depression means, said substrate being disposed in the first shallow depression and said cover overlying said substrate and being received in said second shallow depression.

35. A card according to claim 34, wherein said sealing cover means is an additional sheet extending over said predetermined surface area of said sheet and bonded thereto.

36. A card according to claim 33, wherein said sheet has a first general thickness smaller than said maximum thickness and said sealing cover means is a cap shaped for enclosing said electronic device and culminating at a level such that the total thickness of the sheet and cap enclosed electronic device is almost equal to said maximum thickness.

37. A card according to claim 33, wherein said sheet has a first general thickness smaller than said maximum thickness and said sealing cover means is a substantially plane cover disposed for such that the total thickness of the sheet and plance cover is at most equal to said maximum thickness.

38. A card according to claim 33, wherein said sealing cover means are made of a material stiffer than the substrate.

39. A card according to claim 33, wherein said aperture means are provided through said sealing cover means.

40. A card according to claim 25, wherein said aperture means are provided through said sheet.

41. A card according to claim 25, wherein said aperture means are filled with an electrically conductive material.

42. A card according to claim 25, wherein said aperture means includes a plurality of apertures and each of said terminal areas of said conductors on said substrate is coupled to at least two apertures of said aperture means.

43. A card according to claim 42, wherein each of said terminal areas of said conductors comprising at least two superposed terminal areas respectively disposed on the two faces of said substrate, and said coupled apertures respectively open onto the two major surfaces of said card.

44. A card according to claim 42, wherein each of said terminals of said electronic device is coupled to two separated adjacent conductors of said array of conductors, said two separated adjacent conductors terminating by two separated adjacent terminal areas, and said coupled apertures are adjacent and opened onto one face of said card while respectively corresponding to said separated adjacent terminal areas.

45. A card according to claim 42, wherein each of said terminals of said electronic device is coupled to one conductor of said array of conductors which ends by one terminal area, and said at least two apertures are adjacent and opened onto one face of said card while corresponding to said one terminal area.

46. A card according to claim 25, wherein said sheet is a flexible material and said cavity means is arranged adjacent a corner of said card for reducing stresses applied to said substrate together with said electronic device and said array of conductors when the sheet is handled.

47. A card according to claim 25, wherein the face of said electronic device which carries said terminals has a substance which cannot be removed from the device without impairing the operation of said device.

Description Submit all comments and votes

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to portable cards for systems for processing signals, and to a method of manufacturing such cards.

b. Description of the Prior Art

In most applications where an article is used to give a person private access to a system, this article more and more frequently takes the form of a portable card such is the case with credit cards, for example, which have been in use for some twenty years and are not widespread.

Recently, the International Standards Organisation laid down rules for the dimensional characteristics of credit cards (ISO/DIS standard 2894). Standard cards are to be in the shape of a rectangle 85.72 mm by 55.98 mm and 0.762 mm thick. The alpha-numeric characters which are intended for example to indicate the name and address of the person to whom the card belongs, expiry information, etc. may be embossed formations whose height relative to one of the faces of the card should not exceed approximately 0.5 mm.

In the usual present-day cards, information other than these alpha-numeric characters which is intended to give the card-holder access to a system for processing electrical signals is contained solely on prerecorded magnetic strips or bands which are attached to the card. Although what is contained on the bands may be adequate in certain applications, it is inadequate for other applications. For example, in credit card applications, it would be of great advantage to expand the information and to incorporate in the card processing circuits which are capable of dialog with the signal processing system and which may possibly include a memory. With such circuits credit cards could, in particular, perform required debit and/or credit operations in conjunction with the processing system and could record the results of these operations.

A number of trials have been carried out along these lines in which attempts have been made to incorporate an integrated circuit device in the card and have brought to light problems in such applications for credit cards. For example, small thickness (0.762 mm) called for by the international standard still has to be sufficient to accommodate an integrated circuit device capable of performing the aforementioned operations, while at the same time the card has to retain a certain amount of flexibility without jeopardizing the operation of the device.

A number of embodiments of credit card incorporating integrated circuits are known. In one such embodiment, the capsule containing the integrated circuit is connected to an array of conductors formed on a rectangular sheet of given length, the conductors terminating in contact areas which extend across part of the width of the sheet. A second sheet, of the same thickness as the capsule, contains an opening of the same length and breadth as the capsule but is not so long as the first sheet so as to leave the aforesaid contact areas exposed. This second sheet is applied to the first sheet so as to enclose the capsule. Finally a third sheet, of the same length and breadth as the second sheet, covers the second sheet and the capsule.

A drawback of this type of credit card and the method of producing the credit card is that it involves three sheets of different configurations which have to be correctly superimposed and then bonded or welded. Also, because the card must meet the standard mentioned above, the total thickness of the three sheets must not exceed 0.762 mm and the sheets thus have to be exceedingly thin, making them difficult to handle. Further the capsule necessarily also has to be very thin and special techniques have to be used for the bonding or welding.

In another known embodiment of credit cards incorporating integrated circuits, the card is produced from only two sheets. One of the faces of the first sheet is provided with an array of conductors which terminate in an equal number of external contact areas and the integrated circuit device is applied to this first sheet. The second sheet is arranged on top of it, but in order that the card will encapsulate the said device, the two sheets are made of a material which softens at high temperature. Thus, by heating the sheets to this temperature, the two sheets may be welded together with the device contained within them. This type of assembly thus calls for the use of two sheets made of a material having closely defined characteristics and then for controlled welding to take place at a high temperature. Subjecting the integrated circuit to high temperatures is undesirable in that it might affect the condition of the device.

The present invention substantially reduces or overcomes all of these drawbacks and disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The portable card according to the invention is of the type which forms a standard credit card as defined above and which includes at least one device for processing electrical signals arranged within the card, as well as external contact terminals which are connected to the said device by an array of conductors, the card being characterised in that the said device and array of conductors rest on the same substrate, whose thickness and area are relatively smaller than those of the card, in that the device is accommodated in a cavity in the card, and in that the said contact terminals are formed by terminal areas of the said conductors of the array accessible through cut-outs in the card.

Thus, a card according to the invention may consist of only a single sheet which has an open or closed cavity in which the device may be positioned. The fact that the device and its array of conductors are already in place on a substrate is an advantage both for the manufacturing process and its cost. Also, one of the fundamental features of the present invention is that it takes advantage of the depth permitted for the reference characters (0.5 mm) formed by embossing by having the integrated circuit device inserted in a cavity which can itself be formed by the same embossing operation as the reference characters in a part of the card where these characters are permitted to appear, or which can be encapsulated in a medium whose total thickness is equivalent to the standard thickness of the card (0.762 mm) plus the height of the characters (0.48 mm approximately).

The invention also has as an object a method of producing a card according to the invention, which is characterized in that it consists in providing a roll of a first strip whose width is at least equal to one dimension of the card, forming in this strip a plurality of equally spaced cavities, providing a series of substrates each incorporating an integrated circuit device and a conductor array, inserting one of each of said substrates into a corresponding one of each of the cavities as the said strip unrolls, attaching each substrate to the strip, and cutting a card containing at least one of said substrates from the stip.

The method is thus simple. It employs only proven techniques. For example, each substrate may originate or be fed from one and the same strip or roll which carries a series of conductor arrays provided with their corresponding integrated circuit devices. In addition, this substrate, which for the most part will occupy only a small area in comparison with the total area of the card, may be easily and effectively welded by known high frequency welding techniques. It will also be seen that conventional bonding methods are equally advantageous.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, particularly when taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate various embodiments of a card according to the invention.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters represent like elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a separated perspective view of one embodiment of a card in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-section of the card of FIG. 1 taken on line II--II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of an alternate embodiment of a card in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section of still another embodiment of a card in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view taken from below the card shown in FIG. 4 with the cover 50 removed;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are cross-sections of further embodiments of a card according to the invention; FIG. 8a is a cross-section of a card according to the invention at the region where the external contact terminals of the signal processing device incorporated in the card are situated.

FIG. 8b is a view of part of the substrate in an arrangement as shown in FIG. 8a;

FIGS. 9a and 9b are views similar to FIGS. 8a and 8b, respectively, illustrating a modified embodiment of contact terminal according to the invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-section of another modified embodiment of contact terminal, and

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus used for producing a card according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiment considered in the following description is a standard credit card as defined by the International Standards Organization (IOS/DIS standard 2894). Because of the above-mentioned restrictions imposed by standardization, it is an excellent example for bringing out the features and advantages of the present invention.

Reference will first be made to FIGS. 1 and 2. In these Figures, the card 10 according to the invention is formed by a rectangular sheet 12 which meets the above-mentioned international standard, i.e. it is 85.72 mm long, 53.98 mm wide and 0.762 mm thick and the material of which it is made is laminated PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or PVCA (polyvinyl chloride acetate), or a material which has equivalent or superior working characteristics and is suitable for embossing.

In accordance with the standard, a part 14a of the card contained between one of its long sides and a boundary 15 parallel thereto, which is represented by a broken line in FIG. 1, is set aside to carry reference data, such as the name and address of the card-holder for example. This reference data may be alpha-numeric characters formed by embossing, such as the reference characters 16 which are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The reference data may also be written on a thin element, which may be made of paper or the like for example, which is bonded to part 14a of the surface of the card 10, such as the element 18 shown in FIG. 1. Or the reference data may be a combination of both. In any case, the standard requires that the reference data, be it characters 16 or the bonded-on elements 18, should not exceed a height of approximately 0.5 mm from the upper face 12a of the card 10 on which the reference data is to appear. The permitted height of the characters is thus substantially equal to two thirds of the thickness of the sheet 12.

In accordance with the invention, the sheet 12 is provided with a cavity 20 which, in the present embodiment, is a hole passing through the sheet. This hole is shaped to receive a device 22 for processing electrical signals. This device is connected to an array 24 of conductors which are provided with respective terminal areas 26.

According to the invention, the device 22 and the array 24 rest on one and the same substrate 28 and form an integrated circuit assembly 30. The assembly 30 as shown in FIG. 2 is of relatively smaller thickness than the sheet 12 forming the card and of relatively smaller area than this sheet. As an example, the assembly 30 may be of the type described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 652,803 filed Jan. 27, 1976 and Ser. No. 680,749 filed Apr. 27, 1976 and corresponding, respectively, to French patent application Nos. 75.02802 of Jan. 29, 1975 and 75.14872 of May 13, 1975 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,783, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the hole 20 opens into a shallow depression 32 formed in the lower face 12b of the card. The geometric shape of the depression 32 corresponds to that of the substrate 28 but it is slightly larger in area. Its depth is so calculated that the substrate fits into the depression with one of its surfaces flush with face 12b.

In addition to hole 20, cut-outs 34 are formed in the card at the regions where the terminal areas 26 of the conductors of the array 24 are situated when the substrate is in place in the card. In the present embodiment, the cut-outs are holes which pass through the sheet 12. These cut-outs are designed so that electrodes external to the card (not illustrated in FIG. 2) can extend through the cut-outs so as to come into electrical contact with the terminal areas 26 on assembly 30.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the integrated circuit assembly 30 is attached to the sheet 12 by means of an electrically insulating filling material 36 which fills the hole 20 as shown in FIG. 2. This material is substantially flush with surface 12a in the case shown in FIG. 2, but in accordance with a feature of the invention, the material may advantageously be permitted to rise to the height of the embossed formations 16. This enables devices 22 of large dimensions to be used while still keeping within the prescribed dimensions for the standard card.

It should also be mentioned that the substrate in accordance with the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, be made of a relatively stiff material. As a modification, a cover (not shown) made of a stiffer material than the substrate could be used under the conditions illustrated in FIG. 4. Without the cover, however, the substrate 28 is bonded or welded to a sheet 12 within the shallow depression 32 and its exposed face flush with base 12b.

Another fundamental feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the integrated circuit assembly 30 may advantageously be situated in a corner of the card, where any torsional stresses on the card, which is made of a relatively stiff material, are at a lower level than are exerted on the central part of the card. This advantage arises from the facts that the substrate only occupies a relatively small proportion of the card and that the terminal contacts are directly accessible to the electrodes, through the cut-outs 34, with the result that the conductors do not have to extend through the card and thus make it vulnerable to any torsion or bending.

Another characteristic according to the present invention lies in the compatibility of processing by the device 22 with processing by other means such as magnetic bands or strips which can be applied in an area 14b provided for by the international standard. This area is a part of card 10 complementary to part 14a and is bounded by the broken line 15 which is marked out longitudinally on the card shown in FIG. 1. In accordance with existing practice there is shown at 38 such a magnetic bands, which is generally joined to the lower face 12b of the card. In the example shown in FIG. 1, it can be seen that neither the device 22 nor the conductors in array 24 can, in a card according to the invention, interfere with the zone intended for information recorded on the magnetic band.

FIG. 3 shows a modified embodiment of card according to the invention in which the integrated circuit assembly 30 for the processing device 22 is situated on face 12a of the card 10 rather than on the opposite face, as in the case of FIG. 2. This arrangement has several advantages over that which has just been described. In view of the permitted height which is available above face 12a of the card 10 under the provisions of the international standard, it is no longer necessary to form a depression such as the depression 32 shown in FIG. 2 and it is even possible for a cover 40, which is formed for example from a stiffer material than that which constitutes substrate 28 of assembly 30, to cover the whole assembly and to protect it more satisfactorily. The result is easier construction and better protection. In addition, it will be noted that the cut-outs 34 provided for electrical connections external to the card open onto the lower face 12b of the card. This in no way affects the accessibility of the device 22 to the external electrical signal processing system with which the card is intended to communicate.

A plug 42 may be utilized to close the hole 20 on that face which is opposite to the face on which the assembly 30 is arranged. Such a plug could, of course, also have used in the case of the card shown in FIG. 2, and it should be readily apparent that the embodiments illustrated are considered merely as non-limiting examples.

It should also be noted that, although not shown so that the drawings remain clear, the cover 40 is welded or bonded to the card 10 in a conventional manner.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the cavity 20 does not extend entirely through the card as in FIGS. 1-3, but is an embossed formation 44 of the sheet 12 forming the card 10. The height of this embossed formation is such that the exposed area or face of the formation is not higher than the maximum height allowed for embossed formations so as to satisfy the standard, that is to say it is at most equal to the height of the embossed formations 16 (0.5 mm approximately). Since this height represents approximately two-thirds of the thickness of the card, the additional room afforded by this embossed formation is far from negligible and offers many advantages. The device 22 is accommodated in the cavity 46 created by the embossed formation 44, whilst a first inset step or depression 48 is provided to receive and hold the substrate 28 of assembly 30. As in the case of FIG. 3, a cover 50 equivalent to the cover 40 in FIG. 3, may likewise be provided to stiffen the assembly. Cover 50 is advantageously secured in a second inset step or depression 49.

An integrated circuit assembly 30 similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 1 to