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KR-20260065940-A - Lighting module for smart cards

KR20260065940AKR 20260065940 AKR20260065940 AKR 20260065940AKR-20260065940-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a lighting module for illuminating a portion of a smart card. The lighting module comprises a substrate layer, one or more lighting elements (e.g., one or more LEDs) disposed on the substrate layer and configured to emit light parallel to the substrate layer, and a light guide applied to the substrate layer. The light guide comprises a light guide material and a pattern layer applied to the light guide material, configured to refract light parallel to the substrate layer and deflect it along a direction perpendicular to the substrate layer to obtain emitted light. The pattern layer comprises a series of protrusions distributed to make the brightness of the emitted light uniform. The key to this configuration lies in totally reflecting horizontal light emitted from the lighting element within the light guide and then efficiently and uniformly extracting it toward the user's eyes (vertical direction) through a specific pattern (protrusion).

Inventors

  • 판남 솜차드
  • 닐란트 카르슈텐
  • 티에나르 올리비에
  • 되링 스벤
  • 클렘 라르스

Assignees

  • 랑셍 홀딩

Dates

Publication Date
20260511
Application Date
20240905
Priority Date
20230911

Claims (20)

  1. In a lighting module (100) for illuminating a portion of a smart card, - Substrate layer (240); - One or more lighting elements (110) positioned on the substrate layer (240) and configured to emit light parallel to the substrate layer (240) - e.g., one or more LEDs -; - A light guiding body (200) applied to the substrate layer (240), comprising a light guiding material (210) and a pattern layer (220) applied to the light guiding material (210), configured to refract the light parallel to the substrate layer (240) and deviate it along a direction perpendicular to the substrate layer (240) in order to obtain emitted light; Includes, The above pattern layer (220) comprises a series of protrusions (222) distributed to uniformly equalize the brightness of the emitted light, in a lighting module (100).
  2. In claim 1, the protrusions (222) are printed dots, in the lighting module (100).
  3. In claim 1, the protrusions (222) are bubbles formed from the light-guiding material (210), in a lighting module (100).
  4. In any one of claims 1 to 3, the density of the protrusions (222) increases as the distance of the protrusions from the one or more lighting elements (110) increases, in a lighting module (100).
  5. A lighting module (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the surface of each of the one or more lighting elements (110) is positioned in contact with the edges of the light guide (200) so as to eliminate the gap between the one or more lighting elements (110) and the light guide (200) and to facilitate the transmission of the emitted light.
  6. A lighting module (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a gap is formed between each of the one or more lighting elements (110) and the light guide material (210), and the gap is filled with a gap filling material having a refractive index suitable for enabling the transmission of light within the gap.
  7. A lighting module (100), wherein in any one of claims 1 to 6, the width (W2) of the pattern layer (220) is smaller than the width (W1) of the light-guiding material (210), and/or the length (L2) of the pattern layer (220) is smaller than the length (L1) of the light-guiding material (210).
  8. In any one of claims 1 to 7, each protrusion (222) has a circular shape having a diameter included within a range between 50 μm and 100 μm, preferably within a range between 60 μm and 80 μm, more preferably 75 μm. A lighting module (100).
  9. A lighting module (100) further comprising, in any one of claims 1 to 8, a reflective layer (230) configured to reflect light emitted by the lighting element (110) to the outside of the light-guiding material (210) and to re-direct the light into the light-guiding material (210).
  10. A lighting module (100) in which at least one reflective portion (232) is applied in correspondence with the lighting element (110) in any one of claims 1 to 9.
  11. In claim 9 or 10, the reflective layer (230) and/or the reflective portion (232) comprises a metal layer or a metalized layer, in a lighting module (100).
  12. In any one of claims 1 to 11, the lighting module (100) is a printed circuit board (PCB) in which the substrate layer (240) is a printed circuit board (PCB).
  13. A lighting module (100) further comprising a printed circuit board (PCB) (122) having a cutout portion in any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the light guide (200) is disposed within the cutout portion.
  14. In claim 12 or 13, the lighting module (100) comprises a plurality of lighting elements (110), for example, a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and the plurality of lighting elements (110) are formed on a single PCB (122).
  15. In any one of claims 1 to 14, the light guide (200) comprises an orientation element (150) for ensuring the correct positioning of the light guide (200) with respect to one or more lighting elements (110), a lighting module (100).
  16. A lighting module (100) further comprising an energy-harvesting antenna (130) for providing energy to one or more lighting elements (110) in any one of claims 1 to 15.
  17. In claim 16, the one or more lighting elements (110) are LEDs, and the lighting module (100) further comprises a rectification system (120) for rectifying a signal emitted by the energy-harvesting antenna (130) before transmitting it to the one or more LEDs.
  18. In a pre-laminated structure (300) for a smart card, - Pre-lam body (310) including a cutout portion; - Lighting module (100) of any one of claims 1 to 17; Includes, The lighting module (100) is a pre-laminated structure (300) located within the cutout portion.
  19. In claim 18, the graphic layer (320) further comprises a graphic element (321), said graphic layer (320) is a pre-laminated structure (300) attached to the pre-lam body (310) in correspondence with the lighting module (100) so that the lighting module (100) illuminates the graphic element (321).
  20. A pre-laminated structure (300) in which, in claim 18 or 19, one or more light-reflecting portions (140A, 140B, 140C) are formed on the sidewalls of the cutout portions corresponding to the one or more lighting elements (110).

Description

Lighting module for smart cards The present invention relates to an illumination module for a smart card, pre-laminated structures for a smart card, and a smart card comprising the same. It is known at the technical level to provide light sources to smart cards to indicate the operating status of the smart card or to illuminate parts of the smart card. Reference CN206115469 describes a dual-interface smart card having an LED placed, for example, within the core layer of the card. When a transaction is performed, the dual-interface smart card is approached by a card reader. Accordingly, the card reader supplies energy to the LED light and generates a light flash, which indicates that a transaction is in progress. When the transaction is completed and the dual-interface smart card having the LED is removed from the card reader, no further power is supplied to the LED light, and accordingly, the flashing effect of the LED light disappears. On the other hand, document EP1919714 discloses a card having lighting means for illuminating a graphic element formed on a card layer. The card body has a recess corresponding to the card layer, and the recess is filled with a light collecting film, and the light collecting film comprises a transparent plastic material with fluorescent dyes inserted therein. An LED source may be added to the card body to power the fluorescent dyes. In configurations disclosed in the background technology, light emitted by light sources, such as diodes and/or fluorescent dyes, passes through the plastic material of the card layers and is consequently scattered in all directions before reaching the user's eyes. Therefore, the brightness of the emitted light is not uniform, and graphic elements may appear blurry. The lighting module according to the present invention is intended to overcome one or more of the disadvantages of the above-mentioned technology level. According to one aspect of the present invention, a lighting module for illuminating a portion of a smart card is provided, the lighting module comprises: a substrate layer; one or more lighting elements positioned on the substrate layer and configured to emit light parallel to the substrate layer; a light guiding body applied to the substrate layer and comprising a light guiding material and a pattern layer applied to the light guiding material, configured to refract light parallel to the substrate layer and deflect the light along a direction perpendicular to the substrate layer in order to obtain the emitted light, and the pattern layer comprises a series of protrusions distributed to make the brightness of the emitted light uniform. The advantage of this configuration is that the lighting module enables the light of the lighting elements to re-emit along a direction perpendicular to the substrate layer, and enables a uniform luminance distribution across the area of the light guide material. In the present disclosure, a lighting module should be understood to represent a modular unit configured to illuminate a portion of a smart card and comprising one or more lighting elements and a light guiding material body. In the present disclosure, a light-guided material should be understood to refer to any transparent optical material designed to transport and distribute light from a first material having a first refractive index and a second material having a second refractive index. The light-guided material transports light from one location to another by utilizing the principles of total internal reflection at the boundary between the two materials. According to the present invention, the light guide material may be manufactured from PC, PVC, PMMA, PET, glass, acrylic glass, polyurethane or mixtures thereof, LDPE, polysulfone, or transparent epoxy resins. Preferably, the light-guided material does not contain fluorescent molecules or any other doping particles. The fact that the light-guided material of the present invention does not contain fluorescent molecules is advantageous because the light emitted by the lighting elements is entirely transferred to the light-guided material and other layers without any other energy conversion process. Furthermore, in this way, the lighting module immediately stops illuminating other card layers without the residence times that may occur in fluorescent molecules, immediately after turning off the lighting elements. The light-guided material has a higher refractive index than the surrounding layers, such as other layers of the smart card. In this way, once light enters the light-guided material, it is reflected between the top surface and the bottom surface due to total internal reflection and continues to travel until it strikes an out-coupling structure, such as protrusions formed on it. In fact, the protrusions of the pattern layer have a different refractive index compared to the other materials surrounding the light-guided material. Therefore, the protrusions modify the interface of the ligh