Information carrying card comprising crosslinked polymer composition, and method of making the same

• US 10,127,489 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2017
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IDEMIA America Corp. (Advent International Corporation)
• Original Assignee: X-Card Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Cox, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Minskey, Jacob T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoover, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US15/421,938
• Publication Number:
  US 20170147916A1
• Time in Patent Office: 650 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F21L 4/00 Electric lighting devices with self-contained electric batteries or cells
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 33/0004 Personal or domestic articles
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/10 Light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/077 Constructional details, e.g. mounting of circuits in the carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07722 the record carrier being multilayered, e.g. laminated sheets flat articles in general, see B32B37/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07724 the record carrier being at least partially made by a molding process molding in general B29C45/14
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/182 associated with components mounted in the printed circuit board, e.g. insert mounted components [IMC]
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 13/00 Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or adjusting assemblages of electric components
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/10 Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1321 Polymer or resin containing [i.e., natural or synthetic]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1352 Polymer or resin containing [i.e., natural or synthetic]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1355 Elemental metal containing [e.g., substrate, foil, film, coating, etc.]

Abstract

The disclosure provides a core layer for an information carrying card, resulting information carrying card, and methods of making the same. A core layer for an information carrying card comprises at least one thermoplastic layer having at least one cavity, an inlay layer, and, and a crosslinked polymer composition. At least one portion of the inlayer layer is disposed inside the at least one cavity of the at least one thermoplastic layer. The crosslinked polymer composition is disposed over the at least one thermoplastic layer and contacting the inlayer layer.

Claims

1. A core layer for a plurality of information carrying cards, comprising

a first thermoplastic layer defining a plurality of cavities therein, each cavity having a continuous surface profile solely defined by and inside the first thermoplastic layer, the continuous surface profile having a bottom wall surface and a side wall surface;

a plurality of inlay layers, each inlay layer having at least one portion being disposing into one respective cavity; and

a crosslinked polymer composition disposed in each of the plurality of cavities and contacting the pluralities of inlay layers.

2. The core layer of claim 1, wherein the crosslinked polymer composition comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of acrylate, methacrylate, urethane acrylate, silicone acrylate, epoxy acrylate, methacrylate, silicone, urethane and epoxy.

3. The core layer of claim 1, wherein the crosslinked polymer composition comprises a urethane acrylate or epoxy.

4. The core layer of claim 1 further comprising a second thermoplastic layer disposed above the first thermoplastic layer.

5. The core layer of claim 4 wherein the first or second thermoplastic layer comprises a thermoplastic material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride, copolymer of vinyl chloride, polyolefin, polycarbonate, polyester, polyamide, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer (ABS).

6. The core layer of claim 1 wherein the inlay layer comprises at least one electronic component comprising at least one of an integrated circuit, a light emitting diode (LED) component, and a battery.

7. A method for forming a core layer for a plurality of information carrying cards, comprising:

forming a first thermoplastic layer defining a plurality of cavities therein, each cavity having a continuous surface profile defined solely by and being inside the first thermoplastic layer, the continuous surface profile having a bottom wall surface and a side wall surface;

disposing a plurality of inlay layers into the plurality of cavities, each inlay layer having at least one portion being disposing into one respective cavity; and

dispensing a crosslinkable polymer composition over the first thermoplastic layer and at least partially into each of the plurality of cavities, and contacting the pluralities of inlay layers so as to form the core layer for the plurality of information carrying cards.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the crosslinkable polymer composition comprises:

a curable precursor, the curable precursor selected from the group consisting of acrylate, methacrylate, urethane acrylate, silicone acrylate, epoxy acrylate, methacrylate, silicone, urethane and epoxy, and

the crosslinkable polymer composition is a liquid or a paste.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the crosslinkable polymer composition comprises urethane acrylate and epoxy.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising

applying vacuum to the crosslinkable polymer composition.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising

disposing a second thermoplastic layer above the first thermoplastic layer after dispensing the crosslinkable polymer composition.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first or second thermoplastic layer comprises a thermoplastic material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride, copolymer of vinyl chloride, polyolefin, polycarbonate, polyester, polyamide, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer (ABS).

13. The method for claim 7 further comprising:

providing at least one release film above the first thermoplastic layer; and

curing the crosslinkable polymer composition to form a crosslinked polymer composition under heat or UV light.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

pressing a resulting the sandwich structure under a pressure; and

heating the sandwich structure at a raised temperature less than 150°

C. under the pressure less than 2 MPa.

15. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

fixing the inlay layer onto the first thermoplastic layer, before dispensing the crosslinkable polymer composition.

16. The method of claim 7 wherein forming the first thermoplastic layer defining at least one cavity therein comprises:

die-cutting one or more thermoplastic films; and

laminating the one or more thermoplastic films under a heating condition.

17. The method of claim 7 wherein the inlay layer comprises at least one electronic component, wherein the at least one electronic component is partially or fully disposed inside the cavity over the at least one thermoplastic layer.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the at least one electronic component in the inlay layer comprises at least one of an integrated circuit, a light emitting diode (LED) component, and a battery.

19. A method for fabricating a plurality of information carrying cards, comprising forming a core layer for the plurality of information carrying cards according to claim 7.

20. A method of claim 19 further comprising

laminating a printable thermoplastic film on one side of the core layer, after the crosslinkable polymer composition is cured to form a crosslinked polymer composition;

laminating a transparent thermoplastic film on the printable thermoplastic film on one side of the core layer; and

cutting the core layer for the plurality of information carrying cards into individual information carrying cards.