MICROCIRCUIT CARD AND A TOOL AND METHOD FOR MAKING THEREOF

• US 20130068844A1
• Filed: 09/06/2012
• Published: 03/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IDEMIA France (Advent International Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oberthur Technologies SA (Advent International Corporation)
• Inventors: BOSQUET, Olivier, Huet, Mickael
• Granted Patent: US 8,998,098 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/492
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07743 External electrical contacts
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0021 for reading/sensing record carriers having surface contacts
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 407/19 Rotary cutting tool
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 409/303752 Process

Abstract

A microcircuit card (2) and held within a carrier card (3) is generally shown as 1 in FIG. 1. The microcircuit card (2) is bounded on all edges except one edge (10a) which is free. The free edge (10a) is substantially in alignment with an edge (7) of a carrier card (3). The microcircuit card and carrier card are held together by connections (12), which can be broken to release the microcircuit card (20) so it can be used independently of the carrier card. The position of the microcircuit card allows it to be easily and cleanly removed from the carrier card.

Claims

1. A microcircuit card attached to a carrier card, said microcircuit card having being delineated from a surface forming said carrier card and being releasably attached to said carrier by releasable connections, characterized in that the microcircuit card is positioned such that at least one edge of said microcircuit card is positioned to be at an edge of said carrier card.

2. A microcircuit card according to claim 1, wherein said microcircuit card is bounded by the carrier card on all sides except for one edge which is aligned with an edge of the carrier card.

3. A microcircuit card according to claim 1 which is of a substantially rectilinear shape with there being two longer edges to the microcircuit card and two shorter edges of said microcircuit card with one shorter edge of the microcircuit card being aligned at an edge of the carrier card.

4. A microcircuit card according to claim 1 wherein there is a space between the end wall of the rectilinear card that extends towards the centre of the carrier card and which is opposed to the edge of the microcircuit card that is aligned with the edge of the carrier card.

5. A microcircuit card according to claim 1 wherein the releasable connections are friable connections that allow the microcircuit card to be removed from the carrier card.

6. A microcircuit card according to claim 5, wherein the releasable connections extend substantially the length of the longer edges of the rectangular microcircuit card.

7. A microcircuit card according to claim 1 wherein a front face of the microcircuit card is in the same plane a front face of the carrier card.

8. A microcircuit card according to claim 1 wherein a rear face of the microcircuit card is recessed with respect to a rear face of the carrier card.

9. A method of making a microcircuit card attached to a carrier card wherein said method comprising placing a carrier card on a support with a face of said carrier card being positioned on said support, and milling a peripheral edge for the microcircuit card in the carrier card, characterized in that the milling is such that an edge of the microcircuit card is aligned with an edge of the carrier card.

10. A method of making a microcircuit card according to claim 9, characterized in that said method comprises placing a milling mask over a face of said card and milling around at least part of the periphery of said milling mask with a milling tool to form the peripheral edge, characterized in that the milling mask has an opening at one edge, said opening being arranged to align with an edge of the carrier card such that on milling, the milling tool can move beyond the edge of the microcircuit card so that an edge of the microcircuit card can be aligned with an the edge of the carrier card.

11. A method according to claim 9, wherein the support is rectilinear and the milling result in rectilinear microcircuit card bounded on three edges by the carrier card with a fourth edge aligning with an edge of the carrier card.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein there is a space where the milling mask and the support are not in clamped together so that the milling tool can extend to pass along and form edge of the microcircuit card.

13. A method according to claim 10, wherein the milling tool routs the periphery of the microcircuit card.

14. A milling tool arranged to be used in a method according to claim 9 having a shaft with an end having a milling head with a cutting area having a toothed surface that can cut into material forming the surface of a carrier card to create at least part of the periphery of a microcircuit in said carrier card.

15. A milling tool according to claim 14, wherein the toothed surface is provided by a portion of the end of the milling tool being cut away to form the toothed cutting surface.

16. A milling tool according to claim 15, wherein the portion that is cut away is substantially v shape so forming toothed cutting surfaces.