IC card rigidized cover

Claim 1

An IC card apparatus which comprises a circuit board assembly that includes a board with front and rear ends with said front end having a row of conductive traces, a body arrangement that is fastened to said circuit board and that includes a front connector having a row of contacts engaged with said row of conductive traces, and an electrically conductive cover assembly extending largely around said circuit board and having opposite cover sides, comprising: said cover assembly includes top and bottom covers, said top cover having a top part that covers most of said circuit board and that has opposite sides at said cover sides, and said top cover having top side rails that each extends substantially downwardly from a different one of said top part sides, said bottom cover having a bottom part that lies below most of said circuit board and that has opposite sides at said cover sides, and said bottom cover having bottom side rails that each extend substantially upwardly from one of said bottom part sides, said top and bottom rails at each of said cover sides lying facewise adjacent to each other to form a pair of facewise adjacent rails; a pair of layers of solder, each layer of solder lying between the rails of each of said pairs of facewise adjacent rails and bonded to both rails of the pair that it lies between.

Claim 9

A method for constructing an IC card which includes a circuit board assembly including a board having a width and having front and rear ends with said front end having a row of conductive traces, and a body arrangement that is fastened to the board and that includes a front connector having a row of contacts engaged with said row of conductive traces, including: forming an electrically conductive top cover with a largely horizontally-extending top part having a width greater than that of said board and having opposite sides, with said top cover having top side rails that each extends substantially downwardly from a different one of said top part sides, with said top side rails having inner faces that face each other; forming an electrically conductive bottom cover with a substantially horizontally-extending bottom part having a width greater than that of said board and having opposite sides, with said bottom cover having bottom side rails that each extends substantially upwardly from a different one of said bottom part sides, with said bottom rails having outer faces that face away from each other; bonding a plurality of strips of solder to said rails, including bonding a strip of solder to the inner face of each of said top side rails and bonding a strip of solder to the outer face of each of said bottom side rails; placing said covers so said bottom part of said bottom cover lies under said circuit board arrangement and said bottom side rails lie substantially beyond opposite sides of said circuit board arrangement, and so said top part of said top cover lies over said circuit board arrangement and said top side rails lie beyond said bottom side rails, with the strip of solder on each top side rail abutting a strip of solder on a bottom side rail; applying heat to said top side rails to melt said strips of solder into one another, and allowing said strips of solder to solidify.

Claim 10

A method for constructing an IC card which includes a circuit board assembly including a board having a width and having front and rear ends with said front end having a row of conductive traces, and a body arrangement that is fastened to the board and that includes a front connector having a row of contacts engaged with said row of conductive traces, including: forming an electrically conductive top cover with a largely horizontally-extending top part having a width greater than that of said board and having opposite sides, with said top cover having top side rails that each extends substantially downwardly from a different one of said top part sides, with said top side rails having inner faces that face each other; forming an electrically conductive bottom cover with a substantially horizontally-extending bottom part having a width greater than that of said board and having opposite sides, with said bottom cover having bottom side rails that each extends substantially upwardly from a different one of said bottom part sides, with said bottom rails having outer faces that face away from each other; bonding a plurality of strips of solder to said rails, including bonding a strip of solder to the inner face of each of said top side rails and bonding a strip of solder to the outer face of each of said bottom side rails; placing said covers so said bottom part of said bottom cover lies under said circuit board arrangement and said bottom side rails lie substantially beyond opposite sides of said circuit board arrangement, and so said top part of said top cover lies over said circuit board arrangement and said top side rails lie beyond said bottom side rails, with the strip of solder on each top side rail abutting a strip of solder on a bottom side rail; applying heat to said top side rails to melt said strips of solder into one another, and allowing said strips of solder to solidify.