Metal and Ceramic Transaction Card Windows with LED Light Guides
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transaction cards made of metal or ceramic materials face manufacturing and structural challenges when incorporating a transparent window without functional patterns, and there is a demand for aesthetically pleasing, non-functional designs that maintain the luxury feel.
Innovation Solution
A non-magnifying and non-collimating transparent window insert is integrated into a metal or ceramic card body, with embedded electronics and decorative patterns, using conductive traces and laminated layers to ensure visibility and conductivity without unsightly wires, and the window is filled with translucent or transparent materials to enhance aesthetics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a transparent window is embedded in a metal or ceramic card body, then the card provides desirable differentiation and aesthetic appeal, but manufacturing and structural challenges arise
Solution Approach 1:
The card is divided into distinct layers: a metal or ceramic card body, a separate transparent window layer, and a backing layer. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using optimal processes for that material, then assembled together, resolving the conflict between manufacturing ease and structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The transparent window is embedded within recesses formed in the metal or ceramic card body, creating a nested structure where the window sits within the card body cavity. This nesting approach provides structural support from the surrounding metal/ceramic material while maintaining the transparent window's aesthetic and functional properties.
2Loss of information
If functional patterns are printed on the transparent window, then information transmission is enabled, but the aesthetic appeal and luxury feel are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The functional pattern elements are extracted from the transparent window itself and placed on the backing layer instead. This allows the transparent window to remain clear and aesthetically pleasing while the backing layer carries the necessary magnetic stripe, chip, and other functional elements, eliminating the conflict between information transmission and aesthetic appeal.
3Ease of manufacture
If the transparent window is made without magnification or collimation, then the luxury feel is maintained, but readability through the window is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of modifying the transparent window's optical properties in the vertical dimension (adding magnification or collimation layers), the solution moves functional elements to the backing layer dimension, allowing clear viewing through the window while maintaining access to card information through the recess design and backing layer arrangement.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2~6
Figure 7
AI summary
A transaction card (1900) includes at least one metal layer (1910) having one or more apertures (1920, 1930) therein. A light guide (1933) is disposed beneath the metal layer. The light guide has a light output and a light input. The light output is positioned to transmit light through at least the one or more apertures of the metal layer. At least one LED (1935) is positioned to transmit light into the light guide light input.