United States Patent c19J
`Jarvis
`
`[75)
`
`[54) FLEXIBLE IDENTIFICATION CARD OR
`TOKEN
`Inventor: Charles R. Jarvis, Bewdley, Great
`Britain
`[73) Assignee: W. & T. Avery Limited, West
`Midlands, United Kingdom
`[21] Appl. No.:
`603,710
`[22) PCT Filed:
`Jan. 18, 1990
`[86] PCT No.:
`PCT/GB90/00081
`§ 371 Date:
`Nov. 19, 1990
`§ 102(e) Date: Nov. 19, 1990
`[87] PCT Pub. No.: W090/08365
`PCT Pub. Date: Jul. 26, 1990
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`[30)
`Jan. 19, 1989 [GB] United Kingdom ................. 8901189
`[51)
`Int. Cl.5 .................... G06K 19/077; G06K 19/07
`[52) U.S. CI ..................................... 235/492; 235/487;
`235/488
`[58] Field of Search ........................ 235/487, 492, 488
`[56]
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`4,463,971 8/1984 Hoppe et al. ....................... 235/487
`4,649,418 3/1987 Uden ................................... 235/487
`4,725,924 2/1988 Juan .................................... 235/492
`4,754,544 7/1988 Hanak ..................................... 437/2
`4,755,661 7/1988 Ruebsam ............................. 235/488
`
`I lllll llllllll Ill lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll llllll Ill lllll llll
`US005200601A
`5,200,601
`[11) Patent Number:
`[45) Date of Patent:
`Apr. 6, 1993
`
`4,841, 134 6/1989 Hida et al ............................ 235/492
`4,849,803 7/1989 Yamamoto et al ................... 357/72
`4,897,534 1/1990 Haghiri-Tehrani ................. 235/492
`4,962,415 10/1990 Yamamoto et al ................. 235/487
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`0231937 8/1987 European Pat. Off ..
`0321340 6/1989 European Pat. Off ............. 235/488
`45977 9/1986 Japan .
`61-214086 9/1986 Japan .
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`IBM Technical Disclosu~e Bulletin, vol. 28, No. II,
`Apr. 1986, pp. 4723-4725, "IBM Smart Credit Card".
`McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science &
`Technology Second Edition, 1989, p. 1445.
`
`Primary Examiner-Eugene R. LaRoche
`Assistant Examiner-Christopher R. Glembocki
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Spencer, Frank & Schneider
`
`ABSTRACT
`[57)
`A portable electronic card or token has a plurality of
`discrete electronic components mounted on a flexible
`substrate, the substrate and the components are encap(cid:173)
`sulated in a plastics material, and at least one respective
`high tensile member is associated with each component
`and disposed such that a region of the card or token
`encompassing the component is restrained from flexing.
`The flexing substrate forms resilient hinge portions
`between adjacent components.
`
`8 Claims, 1 Drawing Sheet
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Apr. 6, 1993
`
`5,200,601
`
`FIG .1
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`

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`1
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`5,200,601
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`2
`The high tensile members are advantageously made
`of a metal foil such as nickel, stainless steel or high
`tensile steel.
`In the embodiments described above, the reinforcing
`5 effect of the high tensile members can be supplemented
`by providing a hard resin around the component.
`
`FLEXIBLE IDENTIFICATION CARD OR TOKEN
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`1. Field of the Invention
`This invention relates to a portable electronic token
`and in particular it relates to a portable token of credit
`card sized dimensions and containing electronic circuits
`for data storage and processing. Such a token is com- 10
`monly termed a "Smart Card" or "integrated circuit
`card". The term "token" as used herein is to be under-
`stood to include "card".
`2. Background Information
`A Smart Card generally comprises one or more com- 15
`ponents such as integrated circuits mounted on a sub(cid:173)
`strate and encapsulated within a plastics material or
`laminate of credit card -sized dimensions, typically
`8.5x5.4X0.075 ems. It is important that such cards are
`flexible so that they can be placed in the user's pocket, 20
`wallet or purse and be capable of withstanding bending
`forces. Furthermore, for the card to be compatible with
`present day systems it must include a magnetic strip and
`meet with the flexing requirements imposed upon cards
`to be used in cash dispensing machines, which are gov- 25
`erned by ISO standards.
`It has been previously proposed to provide a contact(cid:173)
`type smart card structure which protects the compo(cid:173)
`nents, either by mounting them on a metal foil and
`encapsulating them in a hard resin as described in 30
`EP0068539A, or by providing a box-like structure of a
`plastics material within the token which encloses the
`components as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,661.
`The present invention seeks to provide an alternative
`structure which is particularly applicable to contactless 35
`smart cards.
`
`40
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`According to the present invention there is provided
`a portable electronic token comprising a plurality of
`discrete components encapsulated in a plastics material
`and at least one respective high tensile member associ(cid:173)
`ated with each component and disposed such that a
`region of the token encompassing the component is 45
`substantially constrained from flexing, the components
`being mounted on a flexible substrate which extends
`between the components so as to form resilient hinge
`portions between adjacent components.
`In a preferred embodiment, the token comprises a 50
`pair of face members defining opposite surfaces of the
`token and the flexible substrate is disposed between said
`members. The token is typically a "contactless" Smart
`Card, that is information is passed to and from the card
`by inductive coupling such that no direct electrical 55
`contact is needed between the components and the
`surface members.
`The face members of, for example, polycarbonate act
`as strengthening skins and may also act as labels for the
`token.
`In one preferred embodiment two high tensile mem(cid:173)
`bers are provided which are associated with each com(cid:173)
`ponent, in which case one may be provided above the
`component and a complementary one below the com(cid:173)
`ponent, where above and below are terms denoting the 65
`relative position of the member with respect to the
`substrate. The second member may be integral with the
`substrate or may be an extra component.
`
`60
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
`The present invention will now be described, by way
`of example with reference to the accompanying draw(cid:173)
`ing, in which the single FIGURE shows a diagram(cid:173)
`matic side view of an embodiment of the present inven(cid:173)
`tion.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a porta(cid:173)
`ble token 1 of credit card sized dimensions. The card
`comprises a plurality of electronic components 2 such
`as integrated circuits. The circuits will generally in(cid:173)
`clude microprocessing and memory functions and are
`mounted upon a flexible substrate 3 which may be a
`polyimide or polyester. The components 2 are mounted
`upon the substrate by a bonding material 4 and con(cid:173)
`nected by further bonds S to electronic interconnections
`on the substrate (not shown). The card shown is one of
`the contactless coupling type and includes an inductive
`loop 6 mounted towards its periphery, for receiving
`power and transmitting and receiving data signals.
`Complementary pairs of foils 7a and 7b are provided
`above and below components 2. The foil 7b may be in
`contact_ with a surface of the substrate 3 remote from
`the components 2. These foils are made of a material
`such as nickel or stainless steel but can be of any mate(cid:173)
`rial provided it has good tensile properties. The region
`between the foils is filled with a hard glob top resin
`material 11 such as an epoxy resin or a silicon resin
`which reduces shear between the foils, is ionically clean
`and thermally conductive. One or more labels 8 may be
`provided on the surfaces of the card. The labels may be
`of polycarbonate and can be skins which, together with
`the plastics material 12 between them serve to produce
`a strong but flexible card. The card is manufactured
`either by a lamination process as is well known in the art
`or by means of an injection moulding process in whcih
`a suitable fluid plastics material is applied to a mould
`which already contains the components, substrate and
`labels and then allowed to harden.
`It is thus seen that the structure of the card around
`each component and, if the labels are of suitable mate(cid:173)
`rial, of the card as a whole is equivalent to that of a
`double skinned hull commonly used in boat building
`and in aircraft structures. The combination of the foils
`7a and 7b and resin material between them act to stiffen
`and strengthen the card around the region of each com(cid:173)
`ponent and thus prevent this region from flexing, which
`could be potentially disastrous to the circuits or electri(cid:173)
`cal connections. Flexing is however allowed of those
`portions of the card not surrounding the components,
`such as the region 10 in the FIGURE. The portion of
`the substrate 3 in this region accordingly acts as a hinge
`when the card flexes. Thus a card embodying the inven(cid:173)
`tion can be manufactured, which card is flexible enough
`to withstand the bending when carried by a user, or in
`operation, but protects, and holds rigid the region sur(cid:173)
`rounding, each component.
`The construction described herein is particularly
`useful for contactless smart cards as no contacts are
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`5,200,601
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`3
`required with the surface layer. Consequently, the sub(cid:173)
`strate/component layer can be manufactured with the
`reinforcement in place as the position of the substrate
`between the skins 8 is not critical as it is in a contact(cid:173)
`type card where surface contacts are required.
`The card as a whole is likely to be subject to consider(cid:173)
`able deformation in use. The combination of the labels
`on opposing faces serves to preserve the integrity of the
`structure and significantly reduces the likelihood of the 10
`reinforced regions around the or each component
`'breaking out' of the structure.
`Changes can be made while remaining within the
`scope of the invention.
`I claim:
`1. A portable electronic token having an overall pre(cid:173)
`determined minimum flexibility and formed of a flexible
`plastics material, said token including:
`an electronic component mounted on a flexible sub(cid:173)
`strate providing electrical connections to said com- 20
`ponent, said electronic component and said electri(cid:173)
`cal connections defining a region of said token;
`a first high tensile member overlying and encompass(cid:173)
`ing said region; and
`a second high tensile member underlying and encom- 2s
`passing said region,
`said first and second high tensile members, said elec(cid:173)
`tronic component and said flexible substrate being
`encapsulated by said flexible plastics material,
`wherein said first and second high tensile members
`serve to restrain said token from flexing over said
`region of token, portions of said token including
`said plastics material and said substrate which are
`peripheral to said region, providing increased flexi- 3S
`bility to thereby maintain the overall predeter(cid:173)
`mined minimum flexibility of said token.
`
`30
`
`4
`2. A token as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a
`pair of face members defining opposite surfaces of said
`token, the flexible substrate being disposed therebe(cid:173)
`tween.
`3. A token as claimed in claim 2 wherein said face
`members are formed of a material selected from poly(cid:173)
`carbonate and polyester.
`4. A token as claimed in 1 wherein said first and sec(cid:173)
`ond high tensile members are metal foils.
`5. A token as claimed in claim 4 wherein said metal
`foils are composed of a metal selected from the group
`comprising nickel, stainless steel and high tensile steel.
`6. A token as claimed in claim 1 wherein the elec(cid:173)
`tronic component comprises processing means for pro-
`15 cessing data, the processing means being operatively
`connected by said flexible substrate to memory means
`for storing data, and to inductive input/output means,
`for contactlessly interacting with an external read/(cid:173)
`write unit to transmit and receive data.
`7. A token according to claim 1 wherein there are a
`plurality of said electronic components each mounted
`on said flexible substrate and electrically connected
`thereto, each said component defining a respective re(cid:173)
`gion and having associated therewith a respective pair
`of said first and second members whereby said token is
`restrained from flexing in each of said regions and por-
`tions of said token between said regions act as hinges so
`as to provide increased flexibility thereat and said pre(cid:173)
`determined minimum flexibility to said token.
`8. A token according to claim 1, further including a
`hard glob top resin material encapsulating said elec(cid:173)
`tronic component and said electrical connections be(cid:173)
`tween said first and second high tensile members, said
`hard glob top resin being encapsulated with said sub(cid:173)
`strate and said first and second high tensile members by
`said plastics material to form the token.
`
`• • • • •
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`so
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