Method of manufacturing cards with a transparent window

Abstract

The method comprises a pre-lamination step wherein a layer is placed in contact at least on one side with a lamination plate having a recess and the layer undergoes lamination such that a raised portion is formed on the layer; an assembling step wherein another layer is placed in contact with the layer, and the raised portion of the layer is at least partially placed in an opening of the other layer and a lamination step wherein said layers are laminated together.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a card product with several laminated layers, said method comprising: a first pre-lamination step including: providing a lamination plate having a recess; providing a second layer; placing the second layer in contact at least on one side with the lamination plate; and laminating the second layer using the lamination plate such that a raised portion is formed on the second layer in the recess of the lamination plate; an assembling step including: providing a first layer having an opening; and placing the first layer in contact with the second layer such that the raised portion of the second layer is at least partially placed in the opening of the first layer; and a lamination step including: laminating the assembled first and second layers together.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises: a second pre-lamination step including: providing a further lamination plate having a recess; placing the second layer in contact on the other side with the further lamination plate; and laminating the second layer using the further lamination plate such that a raised portion is formed on an other side of the second layer in the recess of the further lamination plate; a second assembling step including: providing a third layer having an opening; and placing the third layer in contact with the second layer such that the raised portion formed on the other side of the second layer is at least partially placed in the opening of the third layer; and a lamination step including: laminating the assembled second and third layers together.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the lamination step comprises laminating the first, second, and third layers at the same time.

4. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein the first and second pre-lamination steps of said second layer are in parallel.

5. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein said first layer is an opaque layer.

6. The method as defined in claim 5, wherein said second layer is a transparent layer.

7. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein said third layer is an opaque layer.

8. The method as defined in claim 2, further comprising laminating at least one covering layer on at least one of the first or third layers.

9. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein each one of the lamination plates with a recess is formed by a plate and a foil with an opening which is placed on said plate.

10. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein at least one of the first and third layers has flat surfaces on both sides.

11. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the first and third layers are thinner than the second layer.

12. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein said second layer is an RFID transponder inlay.

13. The method as defined in claim 12, wherein said RFID transponder inlay comprises a chip or chip module and an antenna connected to said chip or chip module.

14. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein laminating the assembled first and second layers together comprises laminating the assembled first and second layers together such that the raised portion of the second layer at least partially fills the opening of the first layer and the card product resulting therefrom has an even surface and no collapse at the location of the opening of the first layer.

15. A card product comprising: a first layer having an opening; and a second layer having an integrally formed raised portion, the raised portion being formed by placing the second layer in contact at least on one side with a lamination plate having a recess and the raised portion is formed on the second layer in the recess of the lamination plate; wherein the first layer is placed in contact with the second layer such that the raised portion of the second layer is placed in the opening of the first layer; and wherein the first layer and the second layer are laminated together such that the raised portion of the second layer at least partially fills the opening of the first layer and the card product resulting therefrom has an even surface and no collapse at the location of the opening of the first layer.

16. The card product as defined in claim 15, wherein the first layer is thicker than the raised portion of the second layer.

17. A method for manufacturing an RFID transponder, said method comprising: a first pre-lamination step including: providing a lamination plate having a recess; providing an RFID transponder inlay comprising a chip or chip module and an antenna connected to the chip/chip module; placing a first side of the RFID transponder inlay in contact with the lamination plate; and laminating the RFID transponder inlay using the lamination plate such that a raised portion is formed on the first side of the RFID transponder inlay in the recess of the lamination plate; a second pre-lamination step including: providing a further lamination plate having a recess; placing a second side opposite to the first side of the RFID transponder inlay in contact with the further lamination plate; and laminating the RFID transponder inlay using the further lamination plate such that a raised portion is formed on the second side of the RFID transponder inlay in the recess of the further lamination plate; an assembling step including: providing a first layer having an opening; providing a third layer having an opening; placing the first layer in contact with the MD transponder inlay such that the raised portion on the first side of the RFID transponder inlay is at least partially placed in the opening of the first layer; and placing the third layer in contact with the second layer such that the raised portion on the second side of the RFID transponder inlay is at least partially placed in the opening of the third layer; and a lamination step including: laminating the first layer, the MD transponder inlay and the third layer together with heat and pressure.

18. The method as defined in claim 17, wherein laminating the first layer, the RFID transponder inlay and the third layer together comprises laminating the first layer, the MD transponder inlay and the third layer together such that: the raised portion formed on the first side of the MD transponder inlay at least partially fills the opening of the first layer; and the raised portion formed on the second side of the RFID transponder inlay at least partially fills the opening of the third layer; wherein the RFID transponder resulting therefrom has an even surface and no collapse at each of the location of the opening of the first layer and the location of the opening of the third layer.

19. An RFID transponder card comprising: a first layer having an opening; a second layer having an opening; and an RFID transponder inlay comprising a chip or chip module and an antenna connected to said chip or chip module, the RFID transponder inlay being integrally formed with a first raised portion on a first side of the RFID transponder inlay and a second raised portion formed on an opposite second side of the RFID transponder inlay by at least one lamination step using at least one lamination plate comprising a recess; wherein the first and second layers are laminated on the first and second sides of the RFID transponder layer such that the raised portions of the RFID transponder inlay are at least partially placed in the respective opening of the first and second layers.

20. The RFID transponder card as defined in claim 19, further comprising: a covering layer attached to one of the first and second layers, the covering layer being a transparent covering foil and comprising a raised portion in the region of the respective opening of the one of the first and third second layers.

21. The REID transponder card as defined in claim 20, further comprising: a further covering layer attached to the other of the first and second layers, the further covering layer being a transparent covering foil and comprising a raised portion in the region of the respective opening of the other of the first and second layers.

22. The RFID transponder card as defined in claim 19, wherein at least one of the first and second layers is thicker than the raised portions of the RFID transponder inlay.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a first method to produce a laminated product according to the prior art;

(2) FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate schematically the ideal result (FIG. 2) and the concrete result (FIG. 3) of the method of FIG. 1;

(3) FIGS. 4 and 5 schematically illustrate a solution of the prior art used to overcome the problems illustrated by the result of FIG. 2;

(4) FIG. 6 schematically illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the method of the present invention and its result;

(5) FIG. 7 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the method of the present invention and its result.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) In the present invention the method comprises the following steps to manufacture a product, such as contactless card that includes an RFID capability or transponder and other kinds of cards/datapages, with or without electronic means, contact or contactless.

(7) This product comprises several layers to be laminated together. More specifically, it comprises at least a first layer 10 with an opening 11 and a second layer 12 to be laminated on one side of said first layer 10.

(8) Before the lamination of the said first layer 10 with the second layer 12, the method comprises a specific pre-lamination step of the second layer 12 with lamination plates 13 including at least a recess 14 such that the second layer 12 is formed after pre-lamination with a raised portion 15.

(9) This pre-lamination step is illustrated for example in FIG. 7, which shows the result of this specific pre-lamination process, namely a layer 12 with a raised portion 15 on a first side and a raised portion 15 on a second side.

(10) In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, layer 12 may be a transponder inlay with a chip 16 and a connected antenna 17.

(11) The method further comprises the steps of assembling at least said first layer 10 and said second layer 12, whereby the raised portion(s) 15 of the second layer is(are) placed in the opening 11 of the first layer 10.

(12) Finally, the method comprises the step of laminating the assembled first 10 and second layers 12 after it has been pre-laminated, such that the raised portion 15 of material of the second layer fills at least partially the opening of the first layer. The resulting product is thus as illustrated in FIG. 2 discussed above with an even surface and no collapse 5 (see FIG. 3) at the location of the opening 4.

(13) This initial description concerns a simple and basic explanation of the principle of the invention but it can be applied to other more complicated constructions, for example constructions comprising three layers or more layers, for example one inner layer 12 (which is transparent) and two outer layers 10, 20 and two cover layers 21, 22 as illustrated in FIG. 6.

(14) In such case, the same pre-lamination step may be applied to other layers in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

(15) For example, in FIG. 6, an example of such more complicated construction is illustrated. This embodiment comprises a layer 12 corresponding to layer 12 of FIG. 7. This can be a transponder inlay as described in relation to this FIG. 7. This layer 12 has been subjected to the pre-lamination steps according to the present invention (see FIG. 7) and comprises raised portions 15 on both sides of the layer 12. On both sides of this inlay 12, there are opaque layers/foils 10, 20 with openings 11, 21. Further, the construction comprises covering layers 22 and 23 which are transparent covering foils.

(16) According to the principle of the present invention, the presence of the raised portions 15 prevents the collapse of material from covering layers 22 and 23 into the openings 11 and 21 during lamination thereby maintaining a flat surface on both sides the product.

(17) In a variant, for example useful when layers 10 and 20 are thicker than the raised portions 15 or depending on the materials used, the covering layers 22, 23 may also comprise raised portions in the region of the openings 11 and/or 21 to improve the result. Of course, it is also possible to apply the pre-lamination step according to the present invention only to one covering layer 22 or 23.

(18) The thickness of the raised portion(s) 15 can be chosen in accordance with the circumstances. For example, it may depend on the thickness of the layers involved in the construction, such as the relative thickness of the layers. If the layer with the opening is thicker than the layers with the raised portion, then the raised portion needs to have a certain thickness to ensure proper filling of the opening. Conversely, if the layers with the raised portion are thicker than the layer with the opening, then the raised portion may have a reduced thickness as well. Preferably, raised portion height and thickness of layer should match but variants are possible within the scope of the present invention.

(19) Also, the material used in the layers, in particular the layers with the raised portions, and its characteristics may have an influence. For example, material flow during lamination may have an influence. Typically, the parameters (sizes, thicknesses, etc.) may be adjusted by experimentation.

(20) The present specification is neither intended nor should it be construed as being representative of the full extent and scope of the present invention. The present invention is set forth in various levels of detail in the attached drawings and in the detailed description of the invention and no limitation as to the scope of the present invention is intended by either the inclusion or non-inclusion of elements, components, etc. Additional aspects of the present invention have become more readily apparent from the detailed description, particularly when taken together with the drawings.

(21) While this invention has been described in conjunction with a number of embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations would be or are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, equivalents and variations that are within the spirit and scope of this invention.

(22) For example, as an alternative to the structured lamination plate one may use a plastic foil with openings which have the shape of the window, said foil being placed on the lamination plate. Said foil (made of material such as PTFE, PET or inactivated PC) does not adhere to the inlay material during the pre-lamination step but forms the raised portions one wishes to obtain in accordance with the principles of the present invention. This alternative method is useful and cost efficient for samples, prototypes or small batches of cards.