Plastic cards - Information
Now commonplace, plastic cards have applications including credit cards, debit cards, store loyalty cards, library cards and ID cards. The physical attributes for such cards are defined by ISO 7810 which states that the dimensions of the card are 85.6mm x 53.98mm, with a thickness of 760μ(microns). ISO 7810 also defines physical attributes relating to durability, bending stiffness, flammability, toxicity, resistance to chemicals and dimensional stability under specific environmental conditions such as exposure to temperature, humidity and light. Cards meeting these criteria are also often referred to as CR-80 cards.
Whilst ISO standards do not define specific manufacturing processes for producing compliant cards, the card manufacturing industry largely adheres to a process whereby a core material is sandwiched between two substrates upon which any required designs are printed. These three layers are then placed between two sheets of transparent overlay. The collated layers are then laminated under high pressure and temperature. Once cooled the card is punched out of its surrounding sheet using a cutting form which ensures that the finished product is of the correct dimensions.
Many CR-80 cards will incorporate a Magnetic Strip which can be subsequently encoded with any relevant data. Magnetic strip cards are used in applications such as bank cards or loyalty cards as a way of identifying a user and perhaps relating the user to entries in a remote database. If a magnetic strip is required it is applied by using an alternative, special overlay within which the magnetic strip is embedded.
Before a card is issued to an end-user it is typically personalised using a variety of methods. For example a bank card will be embossed with items such as the holder's name, sort code and account number and will also have data stored on a magnetic strip which will be read by ATMs and other equipment. Standards for such personalisation techniques are defined by ISO 7811.
|
