Manufacturing method for portable data carriers

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a portable data carrier by means of a continuous manufacturing method, comprises the steps: providing at least one foil as a rolled good, unrolling at least one first foil, with at least a first foil being coated at least partly with an adhesive on at least one side, with at least the first foil being scored on at least one side along at least one creasing edge, with at least the first foil being folded up in precise fit along at least one creasing edge and bonded, with the foil being folded up in the direction of the side which is coated with adhesive, with the side coated with adhesive being arranged on the opposite side of the foil which has at least one scored creasing edge along which it is folded.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing portable data carriers, the method comprising the steps: providing a first foil as a rolled good, unrolling the first foil, coating, at least partially, at least one side of the first foil with an adhesive, performing a first scoring that includes scoring the first foil on at least one side along a first creasing edge between a first area and a second area, performing a first folding that includes folding the first foil in precise fit along said first creasing edge, said precise fit being that first gaps provided in the first foil in the first area align with predetermined positions in the second area, the first foil being folded in a direction toward said at least one side that is coated with said adhesive, bonding a surface of the first area to a surface of the second area in said precise fit to form a two-ply area, and arranging a security element or at least a part of a security element on the first foil, wherein the method is a continuous production method such that a plurality of portable data carriers are produced without interruption.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the security element is processed by feeding it from a roll or as a bulk material.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the security element is incorporated into an area of the foil, which is coated with adhesive.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the security element is embossed into at least one foil of the data carrier.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the security element is arranged on at least one outer side of the data carrier or in the interior of the data carrier.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the security element effects a chemical reaction.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein a scented lacquer, a color indicator, a catalyst, or a test strip is used as the security element which effects a chemical reaction.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the security element effects an optical reaction.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein a self-luminous ink, a security thread, champs or metal pigments are used as the security element which effects an optical reaction.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the security element effects a haptic reaction.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein a logo or a Braille character are used as the security element which effects a haptic reaction.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive itself includes at least a part of the security element or at least one security element.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein a foil is used which includes at least a part of the security element or at least one security element on at least one surface or in its interior.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising forming said first gaps in the first area of said first foil.

15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising performing a second scoring that includes scoring said first foil on at least a second side along a second creasing edge between the second area and a third area.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising performing a second folding that includes folding said first foil in precise fit along said second creasing edge such that gaps provided in the third area align with said first gaps arranged in the two-ply area; and bonding a surface of the third area to a surface of the two-ply area in said precise fit to form a three-play area wherein the first gaps and second gaps are superimposed such that a chip module can be inserted into an opening formed by each superimposed first gap and second gap.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising forming said first gaps in the first area of said first foil.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising forming said second gaps in the third area of said first foil.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein a total number of foldings performed in the method is an odd number.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is a continuous production method such that each of the steps including said unrolling the first foil, said performing the first scoring, said performing the first folding, and said bonding the surface of the first area to the surface of the second area in exact register are continuously performed on the first foil without interruption.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Embodiment examples of the invention are hereinafter described in more detail with reference to the attached figure.

(2) FIG. 1 in principle shows the procedure of folding a foil according to the invention with reference to a two-step folding for manufacturing a data carrier. Although, a single-step or multi-step folding is also possible.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

(3) FIG. 1 in principle shows the procedure of folding a foil 2 according to the invention with reference to a two-stage folding. A foil 2 is transported in the direction of machine operation 4 during the method. The foil 2 here has three regions 6, 8 and 10. Each of the regions 6 and 10 has several gaps 12 and 14 which were punched into the foil 2. The gaps 12 and 14 serve for the formation of a gap, into which a module, e.g. a chip module, is inserted. The regions 6 and 8 are coated with adhesive. Before the foil 2 is folded according to the invention, two scored lines 16 and 18 are scored into the foil 2 to facilitate the subsequent folding. First, the region 10 is folded in the direction 20 along the scored line 18, so that the region 10 comes to lie in precise fit on the region 8 coated with adhesive and is bonded thereto. The resulting region 22 is two-ply and has the gaps 14 at its surface. Next, the region 6 is folded in the direction 24 along the scored line 16 in precise fit onto the region 22 and bonded thereto. The result is now a three-ply foil in the region 26. The regions 6, 8 and 10 were folded in precise fit onto each other and bonded together, so that, for example, the gaps 12 and 14 have come to lie exactly one above the other. Tensions in the resulting card cancel each other out by an odd-numbered folding, e.g. single or triple folding in the method according to the invention. The orientations possibly present in the at least one foil cancel each other out by folding according to the invention. A resulting bulge or a distortion of the product is avoided thereby. In addition to the method described above it is possible to introduce in precise fit and to also bond a further foil during the folding. Therefore, constructions made of several foil layers and adhesive layers are realizable. This is interesting in particular when gaps in different planes, independent of the material thickness of a foil, are necessary. At the end of the method at least one data carrier, e.g. a SIM card or a credit card is punched out from the at least one folded and bonded foil. Alternatively to the punching, any other suitable method can be used for separating data carriers from the folded and bonded foil, e.g. separating by means of laser or water jet.

(4) According to the invention, during the above-described procedure of folding at least one foil 2 at least one security element is arranged on at least one outer side and/or in the interior of the data carrier to be manufactured. For reasons of clarity, a representation of a security element in FIG. 1 has been omitted.

(5) The security element is supplied to the procedure described above from a roll or as bulk material.

(6) The security element is supplied such that it is incorporated into an area 6, 8 of the foil 2, which is coated with adhesive.

(7) Alternatively, the security element may be embossed into at least one foil 2 of the data carrier.

(8) The security element may effect a chemical, optical or haptic reaction when used.

(9) As a security feature which effects a chemical reaction there may be used, for example, a scented lacquer, a color indicator, a catalyst or a test strip.

(10) As a security feature which effects an optical reaction there may be used, for example, a self-luminous ink, a security thread, champs or metal pigments.

(11) As a security feature which effects a haptic reaction with a user of the data carrier there can be used, for example, a logo or a Braille character.