Microcircuit card and a tool and method for making thereof

• US 8,998,098 B2
• Filed: 09/06/2012
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• 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: Huet, Mickael, Bosquet, Olivier
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Tuyen K
• Application Number:
  US13/605,579
• Publication Number:
  US 20130068844A1
• Time in Patent Office: 943 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/380, 235/451, 235/488, 235/492, 235/486, 235/489
• 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. An assembly comprising:

a microcircuit card and a carrier card, said microcircuit card being delineated from a surface forming said carrier card and being releasably attached to said carrier card by lines of weakness,

wherein the microcircuit card is positioned such that;

a first edge of said microcircuit card is positioned to be at a first edge of said carrier card,

there are gaps between the first edge of the microcircuit card and the first edge of the carrier card, and

there is a space between a second edge of the microcircuit card and a second edge of the carrier card, said second edge of the microcircuit card being opposed to the first edge of the microcircuit card, and

wherein a face of the microcircuit card is recessed with respect to a corresponding face of the carrier card.

2. The assembly 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 of the shorter edges of the microcircuit card being positioned at the first edge of the carrier card.

3. The assembly according to claim 2 wherein the space is between an end wall of the rectilinear microcircuit card that extends towards the centre of the carrier card and which is opposed to the first edge of the microcircuit card that is positioned to be at the first edge of the carrier card.

4. The assembly according to claim 1 wherein the lines of weakness are friable connections that allow the microcircuit card to be removed from the carrier card.

5. The assembly according to claim 4, wherein the lines of weakness extend substantially along the length of the longer edges of the microcircuit card, the microcircuit card having a rectangular shape.

6. The assembly according to claim 1 wherein a front face of the microcircuit card is in the same plane as a front face of the carrier card.

7. The assembly according to claim 1 wherein a rear face of the microcircuit card is recessed with respect to a rear face of the carrier card.

8. A method of making an assembly having a microcircuit card attached to a carrier card, comprising:

placing a carrier card on a support with a first face of said carrier card being positioned on said support;

milling with a milling tool a peripheral edge for the microcircuit card in the carrier card, the milling tool moving beyond a first edge of the carrier card so that a first edge of the microcircuit card is alignable with the first edge of the carrier card, wherein the first edge of the microcircuit card is positioned to be at the first edge of the carrier card, and wherein the milling cuts lines of weakness to releasably attach the microcircuit card to the carrier card; and

stamping out a space between a second edge of the microcircuit card and a second edge of the carrier card, said second edge of the microcircuit card being opposed to the first edge of the microcircuit card.

9. The method of making a microcircuit card according to claim 8, comprising placing a milling mask over a second face of said carrier card and milling along at least part of an outline of said milling mask with the milling tool to form the peripheral edge.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the support is rectilinear and the milling results in a rectilinear microcircuit card attached on three edges by the carrier card with a fourth edge being positioned at the first edge of the carrier card.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein there is a space where the milling mask and the support are not clamped together so that the milling tool can extend to pass along and form a peripheral edge of the microcircuit card.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the milling tool routs the periphery of the microcircuit card.