Card-shaped information carrier

Abstract

Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) comprising a card body (2; 5; 7; 10; 13; 16; 20) made of a carrier material, characterized in that the carrier material consists entirely or at least partly of a ceramic material.

Description

The invention relates to a card-shaped information carrier according to the preamble of claim 1.DE 299 09 483 U1 discloses a business card which is intended to be incident during the evaluation of the plurality of different cards obtained, for example, on a conference. Many card owners often wish to give their cards a higher level of attention by virtue of their particular shape and / or color and / or packaging, i.e. the more conspicuous the card is designed, the higher the probability that a person who has received such a card will be to devote his increased attention. For this purpose, the business card is designed in the form of a chip card or a check card and has at least one data carrier on which at least some of the information located on the card surface is stored, wherein the business card is manufactured from a plastic material, so that the data carrier, e.g. a chip, can be embedded in the card material.DE 24 56 876 A1 relates to an identification card or check card which has planar parallel surfaces which contain surface parts for receiving magnetic data or signatures and prints which are visible through transparent protective layers. A sheet of plastic of appropriate dimensions and colour is provided at the desired locations with a print consisting of a pattern of vertical strips of magnetizable material so as to form in its entirety a magnetizable surface extending transversely across the card and consisting alternately of magnetizable material and free locations. This type of magnetizable print serves at the same time to secure the card as a document and forms a component thereof. The print of the dispenser of the card is then printed on the base material in color or black and white.The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a card-shaped information carrier which is produced from a durable and robust material.The invention achieves this object by a card-shaped information carrier having the features of claim 1.The card-shaped information carrier mentioned at the beginning and described below is characterized according to the invention in that it consists wholly or at least partly of a ceramic material.The card-shaped information carrier can preferably be produced from a plurality of parts made of different materials. The card-shaped information carrier can preferably be formed as one piece of material, which simplifies the production and enables a continuous and homogeneous material structure. The ceramic material can preferably be selected from the group of silicon carbide (SiC), sintered silicon carbide (SSiC), silicon-infiltrated silicon carbide (SiSiC), aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3), wherein other suitable materials and combinations thereof are also conceivable.In an advantageous development, the card body can be reinforced by a fibrous material in order to improve specific mechanical properties. The fibrous material can advantageously be embedded in the ceramic material. The ceramic material can preferably be a ceramic fiber composite material, in particular a fiber ceramic. The ceramic fiber composite material can advantageously be selected from the group of C / C, C / SiC, SiC / SiC and Al 2 O 3 / Al 2 O 3, wherein the letter sequence before the screed designates the fastery type and the letter sequence after the screed designates the type of matrix in which the fiber is embedded.The ceramic fiber composite material can preferably be reinforced by short fibers and / or long fibers. Advantageously, the fibers can be oriented at a predetermined angle, in particular at right angles, or in a disordered manner with respect to one another. The fiber composite material can preferably be flexurally elastic.The card-shaped information carrier can preferably be a business card, chip card, credit card, payment card or check card. In this case, the card body can preferably have a depression for receiving a chip card module and / or a depression for receiving a magnetic strip. Preferably, the depression or the depressions can be introduced into the consolidated card body by a removal method, in particular milling.Advantageously, raised components, in particular numbers and characters, can be produced over a surface of the card body by removing, in particular milling, the surfaces of the card body lying around the raised components from a consolidated blank of the card body of greater thickness.Advantageously, a border can be provided on the side edge of the card body. In this case, the border can preferably be formed from a preformed profile, in particular a U-profile. The border can preferably be formed from a noble metal, in particular silver, gold or platinum, from silicon, from a lacquer, leaf gold, leaf silver or leaf platinum. Advantageously, the border can have an intermediate layer applied directly to the side edge of the card body. Advantageously, the border can have a thickness of at most 2 mm, preferably 1.5 mm and particularly preferably 1 mm. The border can preferably be vapor-deposited.The invention further provides that the card-shaped information carrier, and in particular the card body, is produced by an additive production method. The additive manufacturing method may preferably include a 3-dimensional printing method. Furthermore, the production method can comprise one of the group of suspension-based additive method, lithography-based additive method, 3D thermoplastic printing and / or a powder-based additive method, in particular 3D powder printing, selective laser sintering or a multilayer production method.Examples of such production methods can be found, inter alia, in the annual report 2021 / 22, which can be called under www.icts.fraunhofer.de / de / downloads / annual reports / jb2021.html, of the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems ICTS, "Additive Fabrication of Ceramic". Another example of such a manufacturing process is that of Fa. SGL carbon available under the trade mark SICAPRINT, which in particular serves for the production of card bodies from silicon carbide, optionally with refinement by the addition of polymers or liquid silicon, and functions by means of 3D printing. However, other materials can also be used, for example carbon carbide.Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings. These show: FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a card-shaped information carrier in the form of a business card; FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a map-shaped information carrier in the form of a vehicle image; FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a card-shaped information carrier with any desired outer contour; FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a fiber-reinforced card-shaped information carrier with schematically indicated fibers oriented perpendicular to one another; FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of a fiber-reinforced card-shaped information carrier with schematically indicated randomly distributed fiber alignment; FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of a card-shaped information carrier in the form of a check card; FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of a card-shaped information carrier in the form of a credit card Fig. 8 shows a greatly enlarged cross-section through the card body of the credit card shown in Fig. 7.FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a card-shaped information carrier in the form of a business card 1 having a rectangular card body 2 made of a ceramic composite material such as C / SiC. However, other suitable ceramic or partially ceramic materials described above can also be used, in particular also composite materials and in particular fiber-reinforced ceramic materials. Preferably, an OFC material (oxide fiber composite) can also be used, which enables the production of a flexurally elastic card body which then does not break even under low transverse loading perpendicular to the card plane.On the card body 2 a label or text field T is applied in the form of the name of the owner "Max Patternmann" of the business card 1 and the name of his company "Patternmann GmbH". Furthermore, two elliptical apertures 2 are provided here, which, owing to the ceramic composite material used, do not have any significant adverse effect on the stability of the business card 1 during normal use. The number, position and shape of such apertures 2 can be designed largely as desired and is not limited to the configuration shown.FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a card-shaped information carrier in the form of a further business card 4 having a card body 5 with an outer contour in the form of a vehicle film, which can likewise be produced without problems and at the same time in a robust manner owing to the ceramic composite material used as described above.Accordingly, FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a further card-shaped information carrier in the form of a business card 6 with a card body 7 having any desired outer contour, which can be produced just as easily and at the same time in a robust manner owing to the ceramic composite material used as described above. The business card 6 additionally has an electronic data carrier 8 embedded in the card body 7, for example an RFID chip, on which digital information can be written in a contact-free and / or contacting manner and can be read out again accordingly in a manner known per se.FIG. 4 again shows, by way of example, a schematic view of a fiber-reinforced card-shaped information carrier in the form of a business card 9 again with a rectangular card body 10 made of the ceramic composite material described above, which has been reinforced with fibers 11 in order to increase the stability, wherein the fibers 11 have been integrated into the ceramic composite material here in the form of a laid scrim with a right-angle orientation of the elongated fibers 11.Alternatively, FIG. 5 again shows, by way of example, a schematic view of a fiber-reinforced card-shaped information carrier in the form of a further business card 12 made of the ceramic composite material described above, which, analogously to the business card 6, has been reinforced with fibers 14 in order to increase the stability, wherein the fibers 14 have been integrated into the ceramic composite material in a manner oriented in a disordered manner with respect to one another here.If necessary, the two fiber alignments of the business cards 9 and 12 from FIGS. 4 and 5 can be mixed; if necessary, different fiber materials can also be used or the different fiber alignments of the bodies 9 and 12 can also be arranged one above the other in a layer-like manner in the height direction of the business card, i.e. perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, optionally advantageously also in a plurality of layers arranged one above the other.FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of a card-shaped information carrier in the form of a check card 15 designed as a chip card, as is used, for example, as a payment card of banks. The dimensions correspond to the variable ID-1 standardized in ISO 7823, i.e. 85.60 mm×253.98 mm with a thickness of 0.762 mm, with the respectively predetermined deviations. However, other dimensions can also be selected, depending on the respective application and the dimensions of the card reader. On the rear side of the check card 15, not shown, a magnetic strip 19 is arranged and placed in a manner likewise known per se, which is only indicated in the drawing. Here too, a text field T is again provided, which comprises the name of the card holder "Max Patternmann" and the name of his company "Patternmann GmbH".The check card 15 is also made again of the ceramic material described above and can optionally be reinforced with fibers 11 or 14 in the manner shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and as described above with respect to these two figures in order to further increase the stability.In the case of the above-described cards, the text data in the text field T are preferably applied by suitable printing methods which are carried out after the solidification process of the ceramic material of the card body 16. However, to avoid jeopardizing the structural integrity of the card body 16, embossing techniques are ruled out.The chip card module 17 and the magnetic strip 18 can only be integrated in the consolidated card body 16 due to the manufacturing process. For this purpose, a depression corresponding to the external dimensions, i.e. both the outer contour and the height perpendicular to the card plane of the chip card module 17, is introduced into the card body 16, in particular by a removing process such as milling. The chip card module 17 is then glued in place there in a manner known per se and, if necessary, clamped. Accordingly, a depression for the magnetic strip 18 can be produced, it possibly also being possible for the latter to be adhesively bonded on account of its small height.FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of a card-shaped information carrier in the form of a credit card 19, again with a rectangular card body 20 with rounded corners, which largely corresponds to the structure of the check card 15 described above and shown in FIG. 6. A difference, which is also important from the manufacturing standpoint, is that in the credit card 20, some characters are raised with respect to the front surface 21 of the credit card 20. In particular, the text field TK with the digits of the credit card number 22, the digits and characters of the date of validity 23, and the letters of the name of the credit card holder 24, are elevated by default.It has been found that the application of the raised characters 22- 24 by additional material prior to the consolidation process is not expedient, because during consolidation under the action of heat, the shape of the characters in the end product cannot be ensured with sufficient accuracy and dimensional accuracy due to temperature, for example "runs", the letter "O" to form a completely filled circle due to temperature.The production of the raised parts of the credit card 19, in particular thus of the credit card number 22, of the date of validity 23 and also of the credit card holder 24, is therefore effected in that firstly an already consolidated blank of the card body 20 of the credit card 19 is produced which is thicker than the finalised credit card 20, and then all material of the card body 20 around the raised constituents 22-24 is removed, preferably by a removal process such as, for example, milling.In order to make credit card 19 even more stable, in the greatly enlarged cross section of FIG. 8, a border 25 indicated by card body 20 can be provided from one which completely surrounds the lateral edge of card body 20. Preferably, the border 25 can also serve as a border reinforcement and for this purpose be made of a metal, in particular noble metal. Preferably, the border 25 also serves to close porous sites that may occur in the circumferential side edge of the card body due to the manufacturing process of the ceramic composite material to the outside, in order to prevent the penetration of foreign bodies, in particular dirt or moisture.Corresponding edge reinforcements 25 can also be used in the other card-shaped information carriers described above in the form of the business cards 1, 4, 6, 9 or 12 or the check card 15.Reference numerals denote reference numerals1 Business card 2 rectangular card body 3 recesses 4 alternative business card 5 card body with outer contour as vehicle slide 6 alternative business card 7 card body with arbitrary outer contour 8 electronic data carriers, e.g. RFID chip 9 fiber-reinforced business card 10 rectangular card body 11 fibers 12 alternative fiber-reinforced business card 13 rectangular card body 14 disordered fibers 15 check card, payment card, Smart card 16 rectangular card body with rounded corners 17 smart card module with contacts and integrated chip 18 magnetic strip 19 credit card 20 rectangular card body with rounded corners 21 front surface 22 credit card number (raised digits) 23 date of validity (raised digits and characters) 24 credit card holder (raised digits and characters) 25 border T text field TK text field credit cardReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedDE 299 09 483 U1

[0002] DE 24 56 876 A1

[0003] Cited Non-Patent Literaturewww.icts.fraunhofer.de / de / downloads / annual reports / jb2021.html retrievable annual report 2021 / 22

[0014]

Claims

Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) comprising a card body (2; 5; 7; 10; 13; 16; 20) made of a carrier material, characterized in that the carrier material consists wholly or at least partly of a ceramic material.Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) according to claim 1, characterized in that the card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) is made of several parts of different materials.Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) according to claim 1, characterised in that the card body (2; 5; 7; 10; 13; 16; 20) is of one piece of material, in particular is produced from a material.Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ceramic material is selected from the group of silicon carbide (SiC), sintered silicon carbide (SSiC), silicon-infiltrated silicon carbide (SiSiC), aluminium oxide (Al 2 O 3).Card-shaped information carrier (6; 8) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the card body (2; 5; 7; 10; 13; 16; 20) is reinforced by a fibrous material (7; 9).Card-shaped information carrier (6; 8) according to Claim 5, characterized in that the fibrous material (7; 9) is embedded in the ceramic material.Card-shaped information carrier (7; 9) according to Claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the ceramic material is a ceramic fiber composite material, in particular a fiber ceramic.The card-shaped information carrier (7; 9) according to claim 7, characterized in that the ceramic fiber composite material is selected from the group of C / C, C / SiC, SiC / SiC and Al 2 O 3 / Al 2 O 3, wherein the letter sequence before the oblique line designates the fastery and the letter sequence after the oblique line designates the type of the matrix in which the fiber is embedded.Card-shaped information carrier (7; 9) according to Claim 6, 7 or 8, characterized in that the ceramic fibre composite material is reinforced by short fibres and / or long fibres.Card-shaped information carrier (7; 9) according to one of Claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the fibres (11; 14) are aligned at a predetermined angle, in particular at right angles, or in a disordered manner with respect to one another.Card-shaped information carrier (7; 9) according to one of Claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the fibre composite material is flexurally elastic.Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is a business card (1; 4; 6; 9; 12), chip card (15), a credit card (19), a payment card or a check card.Card-shaped information carrier (9; 15; 19) according to Claim 12, characterized in that the card body (16; 20) has a depression for receiving a chip card module (17) and / or a depression for receiving a magnetic strip (18).Card-shaped information carrier (9; 15; 19) according to Claim 13, characterized in that the depression or the depressions are introduced into the consolidated card body (9; 16; 20) by a removal process, in particular milling.Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that raised components (22-24), in particular numerals and characters, are produced over a surface (21) of the card body (20), in that the surfaces of the card body (20) lying around the raised components (22-24) are removed, in particular milled, from a consolidated blank of the card body (20) of greater thickness.Card-shaped information carrier (19) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a border (25) is provided on the side edge of the card body (20).Card-shaped information carrier (19) according to claim 16, characterised in that the border (25) is formed from a preformed profile, in particular a U-profile.Card-shaped information carrier (19) according to Claim 16 or 17, characterized in that the border (25) is formed from a noble metal, in particular silver, gold or platinum, from silicon, from a lacquer, leaf gold, leaf silver or leaf platinum.Card-shaped information carrier (19) according to one of Claims 16 to 18, characterized in that the border (25) has an intermediate layer applied directly to the side edge of the card body (20).Card-shaped information carrier (19) according to one of Claims 16 to 19, characterized in that the border (25) has a thickness of at most 2 mm, preferably 1.5 mm and particularly preferably 1 mm.Card-shaped information carrier (19) according to one of Claims 16 to 20, characterized in that the border (25) is vapour-deposited.Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19), in particular the card body, is produced by an additive production method.Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) according to claim 22, characterized in that the additive manufacturing method includes a 3-dimensional printing method.Card-shaped information carrier (1; 4; 6; 9; 12; 15; 19) according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that the production method comprises one of the group of suspension-based additive method, lithography-based additive method, 3D thermoplastic printing and / or a powder-based additive method, in particular 3D powder printing, selective laser sintering or a multilayer production method.

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