Adapter device for mounting a microprocessor in a semi-metallic card

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of manufacturing payment and identification cards which have metallic layers in the structure thereof and are intended for contactless payment or identification. The technical result of the claimed device is that of automating the process of implanting a microprocessor and making it possible to use microprocessors without inductive technology to implement a contactless interface. The claimed technical result is achieved by virtue of the structure of an adapter device for mounting a microprocessor in a semi-metallic card, said adapter device being a multi-layered printed circuit board with an opening for receiving the chip of a microprocessor, wherein the multi-layered printed circuit board comprises at least two layers of a foil-coated material fastened to one another by an adhesive composite composition, and contacts arranged on the surface of the adapter device that is oriented toward the face of the card when the adapter device is mounted in the body of the card, said contacts being intended for connection with contacts of the microprocessor, wherein each layer of the multi-layered printed circuit board has arranged thereon turns of an electric coil which are connected to one another and to the contacts by a metallized coating on the walls of openings in the layers of the multi-layered printed circuit board.

Description

[0001] Adapter for installing a microprocessor into a semi-metallic card

[0002] Field of technology.

[0003] The invention relates to the manufacture of payment and identification cards with metal layers in their structure and intended for contactless payment or identification. More specifically, the proposed technical solution discloses a microprocessor installation unit within the above-described card and represents an adapter device for enabling the operation of a microprocessor, designed for physical soldering to an antenna, within a single card, together with an antenna designed to operate with an inductively coupled microprocessor.

[0004] State of the art.

[0005] A method for producing semi-metallic cards is described in patent RU2789826, published on February 10, 2023. The most labor-intensive and complex process in this technology is the installation of the microprocessor. The difficulty lies in the fact that during installation, it is necessary to ensure communication between the microprocessor and the antenna embedded in the card to implement a contactless interface.

[0006] There are two main methods for microprocessor-antenna interaction. One involves physical contact between the microprocessor contacts and the antenna. This can be achieved through various methods, including soldering, bonding with conductive adhesive, bonding with anisotropic hot-melt tape, and so on. Implanting microprocessors into a semi-metallic card using this method is complicated by the fact that the antenna in the card is located at a much greater depth than the antenna in plastic cards, requiring compensation to ensure that the external microprocessor contacts, designed for the contact interface, are flush with the card's face. One solution to this problem is described in our patent RU2789826 for a method for producing semi-metallic cards. This makes this implantation method extremely challenging for automated microprocessor installation.The second method involves inductive coupling between the chip and the antenna. This option does not require physical contact between the microprocessor and the antenna. This method requires microprocessors in housings containing an electric coil, which provides inductive coupling to the antenna (Fig. 3). Inductive coupling technology eliminates the problem of antenna depth, making it much easier to use in automated microprocessor implantation systems. The use of this technology for production is currently limited due to the extreme difficulty of acquiring microprocessors with inductive technology. A solution described in publication (WO2023239109A1, 12 / 14) is also known.2023), which is closest to the proposed one, in which the metal card comprises an antenna layer, a radio frequency (RF) chip, into which a coil of the chip is embedded for radio frequency communication with the antenna layer; and an insert with a coil that supports the RF chip, wherein the insert with a coil comprises a coil that is inserted into the upper part of the housing adjacent to the coil of the chip and has a channel formed for wired communication between the coil of the chip and the antenna coil of the antenna layer. Thus, an adapter with a coil is added to the chip, which already has an embedded antenna, which is connected to an antenna designed for connection with conventional chips.

[0007] Disclosure of invention.

[0008] The proposed technical solution solves the problem inverse to the problem described in the known solution from WO2023239109A1, namely, it allows the use of microprocessors designed for physical soldering to an antenna, together with an antenna designed for chips with inductive coupling.

[0009] The stated problem was solved by developing an adapter device between the microprocessor and the antenna.

[0010] The technical result of the patented device is the automation of the process of implanting microprocessors and the provision of the possibility of using microprocessors without inductive technology to implement a contactless interface.

[0011] The claimed technical result is achieved by the design of an adapter for installing a microprocessor in a semi-metallic card, which is a multilayer printed circuit board with an opening for accommodating a microprocessor crystal, the multilayer printed circuit board includes at least two layers of foil material, bonded together with an adhesive composite composition, and contacts located on the surface of the adapter, facing the front side of the card when installed in the card housing, and intended for connection with the contacts of the microprocessor, wherein on each layer of the multilayer printed circuit board there are turns of an electric coil connected to each other and to the contacts by means of a metallized coating on the walls of the openings in the layers of the multilayer printed circuit board.

[0012] In a particular case, the layers of a multilayer printed circuit board are made of fiberglass, polyamide, or getinax and other materials used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards.

[0013] In this particular case, the adhesive composite is made up of sheets of woven or non-woven materials. Carbon fiber, fiberglass, basalt fiber, or Kevlar impregnated with thermosetting or chemically curable resins can be used as the base. The central recess in the adapter is designed to prevent localized thickening of the microprocessor in the crystal mounting area from affecting its installation depth. The multilayer construction of the printed circuit board allows for the required number of turns to be accommodated in the coil while maintaining the required adapter dimensions and using standard PCB manufacturing process parameters.

[0014] Description of drawings.

[0015] The solution is further explained with references to figures, which show the following.

[0016] Fig. 1 - layered design of the card when using an antenna with inductive coupling.

[0017] Fig. 2 - general design of the transition device.

[0018] Fig. 3 - typical design of a microprocessor intended for inductive coupling with an antenna.

[0019] Fig. 4 - design of the transition device.

[0020] Fig. 5 - diagram of the installation of the adapter during card production.

[0021] Fig. 6 - diagram of installation of microprocessor in a card with an adapter.

[0022] Implementation of the invention.

[0023] Fig. 1 shows the layered design of the card using an antenna with inductive coupling. The diagram shows a section of the card in the area (7) for installing the microprocessor. On the front side of the card there is a metal layer (1), under which there is a layer of material absorbing electromagnetic radiation (EMR) (2), layers (3) and (4), which are sheets of PVC and serve to provide some distance between the antenna (6) and the layer absorbing EMR (2), and a layer (5) serving as a base for winding the antenna (6). The antenna (6) is made of copper wire using the ultrasonic fusion method. The depth (a) of the cavity (7) for installing the microprocessor is about 600 µm. On the antenna (6) in the area (7) for installing the microprocessor there is a coil for inductive coupling with the microprocessor.

[0024] In the area (7) an adapter is placed, and it must be of such a thickness that the microprocessor placed on top does not protrude in height beyond the front side of the card. Considering that the microprocessor has an area in the center in which the crystal is located and this area is protected by a compound, the thickness of the microprocessor in this place significantly exceeds the thickness of the microprocessor along the perimeter, therefore, a recess or hole must be provided in the center in the adapter so that the local thickening of the microprocessor does not affect the depth of its installation. In Fig. 2 the general design of the adapter (8) is shown with the main elements: a coil (9), contacts for connecting the microprocessor (10), a conductive metallized coating (12) in channels formed by holes in the layers and providing a connection between the coil (9) and the contacts (10), an opening (11) for placing the microprocessor crystal.The metallized coating on the walls of the holes in the layers of a multilayer printed circuit board forms channels between the microprocessor contacts and the coils through which the electrical connection of conductors on different sides of the material is to be made. This copper layer forms a copper "tube," and the electrical contact between the foil layers is established through this resulting copper "tube." The thickness (b) of the adapter is defined as the thickness (a) of the recess (7) minus the thickness of the microprocessor substrate. The adapter is most simply and technologically feasible to manufacture using printed circuit board (PCB) technology. This technology allows for the production of a coil with contacts for connecting the microprocessor on a single component, ensuring precise geometric dimensions, and forming the necessary openings in the center of the adapter. Fig. 3 shows a typical design of a microprocessor intended for inductive coupling with an antenna.As you can see, the coil (13) for communication is printed directly onto the microprocessor housing (14). Notice how small the coil's conductors are and how small the gaps between the coil turns are. Achieving such small values ​​requires specialized equipment, as even modern printed circuit board manufacturing facilities cannot achieve such values.

[0025] When designing the adapter, we took into account that the number of turns in the adapter coil, as shown by calculations and empirical data, could range from 12 to 16 turns. When calculating the number of turns, we took into account the specific internal electrical capacitance of microprocessors, which is approximately 15-20 pF. It should be noted that if the microprocessor capacitance changes significantly, the required number of turns in the adapter will also change. When calculating the number of turns in the adapter, we took into account the resonant frequency of the antenna coil, which is used for communication with the microprocessor. To ensure optimal circuit operation, the resonant frequencies of the adapter and the antenna coil should be approximately the same. We have virtually no influence on the resonant frequency of the coil located on the antenna, sinceIt's limited in size by the microprocessor's area, and the number of turns is limited by the capabilities of the antenna winding equipment. Therefore, the only thing we can adjust is the number of turns on the adapter. With a small number of turns (9-11) and a microprocessor connected to the adapter, we obtain a resonant frequency of around 25 MHz, which is much higher than the resonant frequency of the antenna coil, which is approximately 20 MHz. To reduce the resonant frequency of the adapter, we need to either increase the number of turns in the coil or increase the internal capacitance of the microprocessor circuits. We cannot influence the electrical capacitance of the microprocessor circuits, so our only option is to increase the number of turns on the adapter coil.After conducting a series of experiments with adapters with varying numbers of turns, we concluded that the optimal number of turns in our case would be 12-16, as this number of turns ensures that the resonant frequencies of the adapter and the antenna coil are roughly aligned, and the card with the installed microprocessor operates at the maximum possible height (approximately 45-50 mm). Placing this number of turns on a single layer of printed circuit board (PCB) over an area equal to that of a bank chip, especially with a hole in the middle, is currently impossible, as the most precise PCB manufacturing grade for spiral-type conductors with a foil thickness of 18 µm allows for a track thickness and track spacing of 0.1 mm, which corresponds to 6-8 turns on a single surface. Taking all of the above factors into account, we designed the adapter as a multilayer PCB.The design of the adapter is shown in Fig. 4. The adapter is a multilayer printed circuit board made of layers (15) of foil-clad material (fiberglass, polyamide, getinax and other materials used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards), bonded together with an adhesive composite composition (16), which is sheets of woven or non-woven materials, which can be carbon fiber, glass fiber, basalt fiber, Kevlar, impregnated with thermosetting or chemically curable resins, the number of layers can be different, but not less than two (since it is completely impossible to place on one layer both the coil and contacts for connection to the microprocessor with such dimensions), depending on the technological capabilities of the manufacturer.The solution that made this adapter possible was to arrange the coil turns on different layers of a multilayer printed circuit board. This made it possible to fabricate the required number of turns while maintaining the required adapter dimensions and using standard PCB manufacturing process parameters. One implementation option is to use a four-layer printed circuit board with 0.1 mm wide conductors arranged in the following quantities: layer 1 with 7 turns, layer 2 with 5 turns, layer 3 with 4 turns, and layer 4 with contacts for connecting the microprocessor.

[0026] The invention is carried out as follows.

[0027] Fig. 5 shows the position of the adapter (17) during card production. The adapter (17) is glued into the cavity (7) above the card layer (4) using any suitable adhesive (18); during gluing, the contacts (10) for connecting the microprocessor are positioned so that they face the front side of the card.

[0028] After installation of the adapter in the card, the microprocessor is installed in the card automatically using the widespread technology of mounting microprocessors via anisotropic hot-melt adhesive tape. Fig. 6 schematically shows the installation of the microprocessor (19) in a card with the adapter (17). The contacts of the microprocessor (20) and the contacts (10) of the adapter (17) are connected to each other by means of anisotropic hot-melt adhesive tape (21), with the help of the same tape the microprocessor is fixed in the card. As can be seen, the crystal (22) of the microprocessor (19), protected by compound (23), is placed in the hole of the adapter (17) and in no way affects the depth of the microprocessor installation.

[0029] The developed solution significantly reduces the labor intensity of implanting microprocessors into semi-metallic cards and makes it possible to use an inductive antenna for communication with microprocessors not originally designed for this technology.

Claims

CLAUSES OF THE INVENTION 1. An adapter for installing a microprocessor in a semi-metallic card, which is a multilayer printed circuit board with an opening for accommodating a microprocessor crystal, wherein the multilayer printed circuit board includes at least two layers of foil material, bonded together with an adhesive composite composition, and contacts located on the surface of the adapter facing the front side of the card when installed in the card housing, and intended for connection with the contacts of the microprocessor, wherein on each layer of the multilayer printed circuit board there are turns of an electric coil connected to each other and to the contacts by means of a metallized coating on the walls of the openings in the layers of the multilayer printed circuit board, forming channels passing between the contacts of the microprocessor and the turns.

2. The transition device according to claim 1, in which the layers of the multilayer printed circuit board are made of fiberglass, polyamide or getinax.

3. The transition device according to claim 1, in which the adhesive composite composition is an adhesive composite composition that is sheets of woven or non-woven materials, which are carbon fiber, or glass fiber, or basalt fiber, or Kevlar, impregnated with thermosetting or chemically curable resins.

Images