|Publication number||US6803114 B1|
|Application number||US 10/030,205|
|Publication date||12 Oct 2004|
|Filing date||3 Jul 2000|
|Priority date||1 Jul 1999|
|Also published as||DE60005671D1, DE60005671T2, DE60005671T9, EP1192594A1, EP1192594B1, WO2001003061A1|
|Publication number||030205, 10030205, PCT/2000/1896, PCT/FR/0/001896, PCT/FR/0/01896, PCT/FR/2000/001896, PCT/FR/2000/01896, PCT/FR0/001896, PCT/FR0/01896, PCT/FR0001896, PCT/FR001896, PCT/FR2000/001896, PCT/FR2000/01896, PCT/FR2000001896, PCT/FR200001896, US 6803114 B1, US 6803114B1, US-B1-6803114, US6803114 B1, US6803114B1|
|Inventors||Denis Vere, Eric Daniel|
|Original Assignee||Schlumberger Systemes|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (13), Referenced by (41), Classifications (24), Legal Events (5)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
The invention concerns a manufacturing process for laminated cards, and cards obtained by means of a process of this type.
The cards according to the invention are chip cards comprising a plastic card body, and an electronic module integrated in said card body, comprising an integrated circuit the contact pads of which are connected to other pads flush with the surface of the card body and/or the terminals of an antenna embodied in said card body.
Cards of this type are principally designed for processing or storing confidential data, for example for the purpose of executing electronic transactions in a variety of domains such as health care, pay TV, telephony and banking.
Cards of this type are generally personalized in -such a way as to identify their holders, and consequently carry printed marks for this purpose.
Various processes are known for the manufacture of cards. Some processes involve hot lamination. According to these processes, the different layers forming the body of the card are assembled at given pressures and temperatures, such that the plastic materials used in their manufacture reach their setting point, and inter-penetrate locally to create largely coherent laminated assemblies. These assemblies are then printed and cut to the required dimensions for a card body. A cavity is then milled in each body, and an electronic module is finally inserted and bonded in said cavity.
In these processes, the known materials used in the construction of the various layers are acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ABS/PVC mixtures, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) and polycarbonate (PC). Frequently the various layers constituting the card body are of the same chemical nature, for example, all in PVC. In particular, the various superimposed layers in known PETG cards are all in PETG.
The manufacturing processes for state of the art cards, and cards obtained using processes of this type, nevertheless present a number of drawbacks.
In particular, cards in ABS, PVC, ABS/PVC mixtures, PET and PC show limited resistance to dynamic, longitudinal and lateral bending. In general, they crack after about 1,500 dynamic longitudinal bends, with a 20 mm deflection centered on the card body, and about 1,500 lateral dynamic bends with a 10 mm centered deflection.
However, this is not the case with cards in PETG, which on the contrary, show good resistance to the above bending loads. Nevertheless, given the low viscosity of PETG at normal laminating temperature and pressure conditions, it is necessary to reduce laminating temperatures at a given pressure, to avoid all the drawbacks of PETG creep in the laminating equipment. However, at these reduced temperatures, the coherence of the laminated assemblies obtained is found to be mediocre, and it is difficult in practice to find a compromise which makes it possible to avoid both PETG creep problems and the coherence drawbacks of said laminated assemblies at the same time.
The invention concerns a contact-free chip card, comprising a card body incorporating an antenna coupled to an electronic circuit. The card body comprises two outer layers and one intermediate layer placed between the two outer layers. The intermediate layer incorporates the antenna and electronic circuit. Each outer layer is connected to the intermediate layer via a bonding layer, for which the melting point is below that of said outer layers.
In view of the foregoing, a problem which the invention proposes to solve is the manufacture of a card with, on the one hand, a card body incorporating at least three laminated plastic layers directly superimposed on each other, with the second layer placed between the first and third layers, and an electronic module incorporated in said card body, said module comprising an integrated circuit, said card showing good resistance to dynamic bending, and for the manufacture of which the problems of creep and coherence are satisfactorily overcome.
Considering the above-mentioned problem, the first objective of the solution proposed by the invention is a manufacturing process for a card of this type, characterized by the fact that the second layer being a layer in polyethylene terephthalate glycol, and the first and third layers being of a different nature to said second layer,—the first, second and third layers are laminated so as to obtain a first laminated assembly,—a cavity is executed in the second layer,—and the module is inserted in said cavity.
In this way, the PETG is contained between the first and third layers, and does not creep during lamination.
The resultant card also has good coherence, the plastic materials of the three layers having reached their setting point, and the resistance of said card to dynamic bending is better than that for state of the art cards.
The process according to the invention has the advantage of including a subsequent step whereby—said first laminated assembly, in which the module has been inserted, is laminated under temperature and pressure conditions such that the PETG reaches its setting point so that a second laminated assembly is obtained.
The PETG, which has low viscosity under the conditions defined above, then fills the space between the edges of the cavity and the edges of said module, thus ensuring that the module is held firmly in place in the card body.
Another advantage resulting from this step appears when the second lamination, using an operating method particular to the invention, is executed in the presence of a fourth plastic layer. This plastic layer does not undergo the strains normally encountered.
It should be noted that the second objective of the invention is to obtain a card characterized by the fact that said second layer is a layer of polyethylene terephthalate glycol, and that the first and third layers are of a chemical nature different from that of said second layer.
The invention will be more clearly understood from the following non-exhaustive description, based on the attached drawings where:
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a card according to the invention;
FIG. 2 shows a cross-section view of a card according to the invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates, in a cross-section view, a step in the lamination process according to the invention;
FIG. 4 illustrates, in a cross-section view, a module insertion step according to the invention; and
FIG. 5 illustrates, in a cross-section view, a step in the lamination process according to the invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, card 1 according to the invention comprises card body 2 and electronic module 3 incorporated in said card body 2.
Card body 2 is in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped, the dimensions of which, in accordance with standard ISO 7816, the content of which is incorporated in this description by reference are of the order of 85.6 mm (length), 54 mm (width), and 0.8 mm (thickness).
The card body comprises different laminated plastic layers, directly superimposed on each other. The term “directly superimposed” means that the plastic layers are in direct contract with each other, or in contact with each other via a bonding agent.
Marks 4, such as a bar code, biometric data or a photograph of the holder of card 1, are generally printed on the card. Marks 4 can appear on either or both the main faces of card body 2.
For the manufacturing method illustrated in FIG. 2, card body 2 comprises four directly superimposed plastic layers. These comprise first plastic layer 5, second layer 6, third layer 7, and fourth layer 8. First layer 5 is a thermoplastic PVC layer, for which the setting point is of the order of 73° C., and the thickness is about 190 μm. Second layer 6 is a thermoplastic PETG layer, for which the setting point is of the order of 70° C., and the thickness is about 190 μm. Third layer 7 is a thermoplastic PVC layer, for which the setting point is of the order of 73° C., and the thickness is about 240 μm. Fourth layer 8 is a plastic layer the thickness of which is the order of 175 μm, which can be in PVC or any other clear plastic material. First layer 5 is directly superimposed on second layer 6 which is directly superimposed on third layer 7, which is directly superimposed on fourth layer 8. Second layer 6 in PETG is thus placed between first layer 5 and third layer 7 both of which are in PVC. First layer 5 and third layer 7 are of a chemical nature different from that of the PETG of the second layer.
Electronic module 3 is incorporated in card body 2, in a position defined, for example, in the above.-mentioned ISO standard. Module 3 has two main parts: module body 9 embedded in card body 2, and not visible from the exterior, and upper “contact” part 10, comprising contact pads 11 flush with the surface of card body 2. Module body 9 incorporates integrated circuit (chip) 12, contact pads 13 of which are connected electrically, by metal wires 14, to contact pads 11, the assembly comprising integrated circuit 12 and wires 14 being coated with protective resin 16 and reinforced, where appropriate, by a sheet of epoxy, while upper part 10 comprises, in addition to contact pads 11, epoxy support 17 drilled with holes to take wires 14 for connection of integrated circuit 12 to said contact pads 11.
In accordance with a particularly advantageous aspect of the invention, the PETG of second layer 6 is in direct contact with module body 9.
The procedure for manufacture of a card in accordance with the invention is as illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, first layer 5, second layer 6, and third layer 7 are superimposed between plates 18 of a laminating press. The superimposed assembly is then subjected to a first laminating operation, under the pressure and temperature conditions as defined in the following example, where the assembly is raised to a temperature of 115° C., subjected to a pressure of 50 bar for 1 minute, and then to a pressure increasing linearly from 50 bar to 150 bar for 15 minutes. This pressure of 150 bar is then maintained for 4 minutes. The superimposed assembly is then subjected to a pressure exceeding 250 bar for 17 minutes at ambient temperature. This produces a first laminated assembly in which first layer 5, second layer 6, and third layer 7 are bonded together, the plastic materials of said layers having reached their setting point during the first lamination.
The PETG, the viscosity of which is particularly low once the setting point has been reached, is contained between first layer 5 and third layer 7. The PETG does not spread between plates 18.
Naturally, the steps of the process according to the invention described above are executed preferably on sheets of large dimensions, for example of the order of 610 mm long by 475 mm wide. The laminated assemblies then obtained with these large-dimension sheets are cut to obtain about fifty laminated assemblies of card format size.
In a subsequent step in accordance with the invention as illustrated in FIG. 4, cavity 19 is executed, for example by milling, in the first laminated assembly. Cavity 19, designed to receive module 3, is presented in the form of a symmetrical, blind hole of revolution, flared at its top where it presents a shoulder. Cavity 19 penetrates first layer 5 and emerges on second layer 6. As shown in FIG. 4, cavity 19 emerges in second layer 6 and reaches third layer 7.
Module 3 is then inserted in said cavity 19. In practice, module 3 is bonded in cavity 19, the adhesive being located on the shoulder designed to receive upper part 10 of said module 3. A laminated assembly is finally obtained in which module 3 has been incorporated.
This laminated assembly, incorporating module 3, can be stocked, or distributed by card manufacturers to administrative authorities or companies wishing to distribute small quantities of cards. These administrative authorities or companies can be equipped with “office” type laminating and personalization tools, operating card by card at low output rates.
FIG. 5 illustrates a complementary step in accordance with the invention, which can be undertaken by administrative authorities and companies.
The first laminated assembly, incorporating module 3, is directly superimposed on the fourth layer in a card by card laminating tool. The superimposed assembly thus obtained, or second superimposed assembly, is then laminated following a cycle during which said assembly is raised, for example, to a temperature of 150° C. for 4 to 5 seconds, and then cooled progressively to 45° C., at which temperature it is maintained for about 5 minutes at a pressure of the order of 4 to 5 bar.
During this second laminating operation, the PETG reaches its setting point, liquefies and fills the space between the edges of the module body and the edges of the cavity. Fourth layer 8 is not then subject to local strain plumb with module 3, due, in the state of the art, to the fact that it is crushed in the above-mentioned space. Card 1 according to the invention shows no topological or visual fault plumb with said module. It is thus possible to personalize the card body physically, for example by printing marks 4 on layer 8. In certain execution variants for said layer 8, printing inks are sublimated and migrate via said layer 8, increasing the security of card 1.
Cards 1 in accordance with the invention only crack after about 4,500 longitudinal dynamic bends, and 4,500 lateral dynamic bends, with respective deflections of 20 and 10 mm.
Naturally, the execution methods described above are in no way limitative, and the invention can be applied to the manufacture of contact-free cards, in which the module, generally comprising the integrated circuit, is connected to the terminals of an antenna embedded in the card body, without any problem.
|Cited Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US4617216 *||19 Aug 1985||14 Oct 1986||Gao Gesellschaft Fur Automation Und Organisation Mbh||Multi-layer identification card|
|US5534372 *||25 Jul 1994||9 Jul 1996||Konica Corporation||IC card having image information|
|US5671525 *||4 Oct 1995||30 Sep 1997||Gemplus Card International||Method of manufacturing a hybrid chip card|
|US5846900 *||31 Jul 1996||8 Dec 1998||Eastman Kodak Company||Composite thermal dye transfer ID card stock|
|US5928788 *||17 Oct 1995||27 Jul 1999||Giesecke & Devrient Gmbh||Data carrier with layers of modified PET|
|US5969951 *||13 Mar 1998||19 Oct 1999||Orga Kartensysteme Gmbh||Method for manufacturing a chip card and chip card manufactured in accordance with said method|
|US6012641 *||2 Dec 1996||11 Jan 2000||Watada Printing Co., Ltd.||Laminated stretched and unstretched polyester card for IC card|
|US6208019 *||10 Mar 1999||27 Mar 2001||Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba||Ultra-thin card-type semiconductor device having an embredded semiconductor element in a space provided therein|
|US6250555 *||20 Sep 1999||26 Jun 2001||Canon Kabushiki Kaisha||Card with built-in electronic part and production process thereof|
|US6301119 *||31 Jul 1997||9 Oct 2001||Schlumberger Systemes||Integrated circuit card with two connection modes|
|EP0640940A2||22 Aug 1994||1 Mar 1995||N.V. Nederlandsche Apparatenfabriek NEDAP||Contactless chip card|
|EP0706152A2||24 Oct 1995||10 Apr 1996||Fela Holding AG||Chip card and method for fabricating it|
|EP0706152B1||24 Oct 1995||10 Jun 1998||Fela Holding AG||Base sheet for chip card|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US7116231 *||12 Sep 2003||3 Oct 2006||Ask S.A.||Method of producing a contactless chip card or a contact/contactless hybrid chip card with improved flatness|
|US7278580||2 Aug 2005||9 Oct 2007||Digimarc Corporation||Identification document with integrated circuit and antenna in a layered document structure|
|US7422794 *||21 Oct 2003||9 Sep 2008||Digimarc Corporation||Document laminate formed from different polyester materials|
|US7661600||19 Apr 2007||16 Feb 2010||L-1 Identify Solutions||Laser etched security features for identification documents and methods of making same|
|US7694887||23 Dec 2004||13 Apr 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Optically variable personalized indicia for identification documents|
|US7728048||30 Sep 2003||1 Jun 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Increasing thermal conductivity of host polymer used with laser engraving methods and compositions|
|US7744001||16 Nov 2004||29 Jun 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Multiple image security features for identification documents and methods of making same|
|US7744002||11 Mar 2005||29 Jun 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Tamper evident adhesive and identification document including same|
|US7789311||5 Jun 2007||7 Sep 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Three dimensional data storage|
|US7793846||24 Dec 2002||14 Sep 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Systems, compositions, and methods for full color laser engraving of ID documents|
|US7798413||20 Jun 2006||21 Sep 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Covert variable information on ID documents and methods of making same|
|US7804982||26 Nov 2003||28 Sep 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Systems and methods for managing and detecting fraud in image databases used with identification documents|
|US7815124||9 Apr 2003||19 Oct 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Image processing techniques for printing identification cards and documents|
|US7824029||12 May 2003||2 Nov 2010||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Identification card printer-assembler for over the counter card issuing|
|US7866559||10 Jun 2008||11 Jan 2011||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||ID document structure with pattern coating providing variable security features|
|US7963449||24 Jun 2010||21 Jun 2011||L-1 Secure Credentialing||Tamper evident adhesive and identification document including same|
|US7980596||14 Jan 2010||19 Jul 2011||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Increasing thermal conductivity of host polymer used with laser engraving methods and compositions|
|US8025239||24 Jun 2010||27 Sep 2011||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Multiple image security features for identification documents and methods of making same|
|US8083152||16 Feb 2010||27 Dec 2011||L-1 Secure Credentialing, Inc.||Laser etched security features for identification documents and methods of making same|
|US8435725||19 Sep 2008||7 May 2013||Agfa-Gevaert Nv||Security laminates with interlaminated transparent embossed polymer hologram|
|US8649820||7 Nov 2011||11 Feb 2014||Blackberry Limited||Universal integrated circuit card apparatus and related methods|
|US8827315||9 Dec 2010||9 Sep 2014||Agfa-Gevaert N.V.||Security document with security feature on edge|
|US8936199||23 Apr 2012||20 Jan 2015||Blackberry Limited||UICC apparatus and related methods|
|US9012018||17 Dec 2010||21 Apr 2015||Agfa-Gevaert N.V.||Laser markable security film|
|US9067451||17 Dec 2010||30 Jun 2015||Agfa-Gevaert N.V.||Laser markable security film|
|US20050066513 *||12 Sep 2003||31 Mar 2005||Georges Kayanakis||Method of producing a contactless chip card or a contact/contactless hybrid chip card with improved flatness|
|US20050084693 *||21 Oct 2003||21 Apr 2005||Brian Labrec||Document laminate formed from different polyester materials|
|US20050231922 *||16 Apr 2004||20 Oct 2005||Jung-Chien Chang||Functional printed circuit board module with an embedded chip|
|US20060027667 *||2 Aug 2005||9 Feb 2006||Jones Robert L||Identification document with integrated circuit and antenna in a layered document structure|
|US20070001859 *||7 Sep 2006||4 Jan 2007||Georges Kayanakis||Method of manufacturing a contactless chip card with enhanced evenness|
|US20100201115 *||19 Sep 2008||12 Aug 2010||Agfa-Gevaert Nv||Security laminates with interlaminated transparent embossed polymer hologram|
|US20100316841 *||26 Mar 2009||16 Dec 2010||Agfa-Gevaert||Lamination process for producing security laminates|
|US20100320743 *||26 Mar 2009||23 Dec 2010||Agfa-Gevaert||Security laminate having a security feature|
|US20100330304 *||1 Apr 2009||30 Dec 2010||Agfa-Gevaert Nv||Security laminates with a security feature detectable by touch|
|US20110156382 *||15 Oct 2009||30 Jun 2011||Agfa-Gevaert N.V.||Security document and methods of producing it|
|US20110200765 *||26 Nov 2009||18 Aug 2011||Agfa-Gevaert||Security laminates for security documents|
|US20110204616 *||19 Sep 2008||25 Aug 2011||Agfa-Gevaert N.V.||Security laminates with interlaminated transparent embossed polymer hologram|
|USD701864||23 Apr 2012||1 Apr 2014||Blackberry Limited||UICC apparatus|
|USD702240||18 Apr 2012||8 Apr 2014||Blackberry Limited||UICC apparatus|
|USD702241 *||26 Apr 2012||8 Apr 2014||Blackberry Limited||UICC apparatus|
|USD703208||13 Apr 2012||22 Apr 2014||Blackberry Limited||UICC apparatus|
|U.S. Classification||428/480, 428/212, 156/308.2, 235/488, 361/737, 361/728, 361/761, 361/736, 361/764, 428/213, 361/739, 257/679, 361/746, 257/678|
|Cooperative Classification||Y10T428/31786, Y10T428/2495, Y10T428/24942, G06K19/07745, H01L2224/48091, H01L2224/48228, G06K19/07722|
|European Classification||G06K19/077E2, G06K19/077M|
|13 May 2002||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: SCHLUMBERGER SYSTEMES, FRANCE
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:VERE, DENIS;DANIEL, ERIC;REEL/FRAME:012990/0488;SIGNING DATES FROM 20020411 TO 20020415
|14 Oct 2005||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: AXALTO SA, FRANCE
Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:SCHLUMBERGER SYSTEMES;REEL/FRAME:016883/0316
Effective date: 20040311
|21 Apr 2008||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|12 Oct 2008||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|2 Dec 2008||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20081012