Shielded IC card

An IC card which includes a housing, a circuit board assembly lying in said housing, said circuit board assembly including a circuit board having upper and lower faces and a plurality of components mounted on said board and projecting from at least one face thereof, and said housing including upper and lower portions, laterally-spaced first and second opposite sides and longitudinally spaced first and second opposite ends, characterized by:

• said housing lower portion includes a plurality of board-supporting lower platforms at each of said first and second housing sides, each lower platform having at least one primarily upwardly-facing board-supporting surface, with said board-supporting surfaces lying substantially in a common horizontal plane, and said housing including a plurality of steps each projecting up above said board-supporting surfaces;
• said circuit board has opposite sides and has a plurality of apertures therein, with each of said circuit board sides being supported by a plurality of said board-supporting surfaces and with each of said plurality of apertures receiving one of said steps.

An IC card housing which includes width-spaced opposite sides, length-spaced front and rear ends, and thickness-spaced top and bottom cover portions, wherein said thickness is much less than said width and than said length and said cover portions are electrically conductive, characterized by:

• said housing comprises first and second housing halves, each molded to its shape and formed primarily of electrically conductive material, with said first housing half integrally forming a first of said cover portions and at least about half of one of said sides, and said second housing half forming the second of said cover portions;
• each of said sides includes a vertical outer wall and at least one platform part lying inside of the vertical outer wall, said platform part having a plurality of steps of different heights, whereby to enable mounting of a circuit board on a selected one of said steps to select the height of the circuit board.

An IC card housing which includes width-spaced opposite sides, length-spaced front and rear ends, and thickness-spaced top and bottom cover portions, wherein said thickness is much less than said width and than said length, characterized by:

• said housing comprises first and second housing halves, with said first housing half forming a first of said cover portions and at least about half of one of said sides, and said second housing half forming the second of said cover portions;
• a circuit board assembly lying in said housing and including a circuit board having upper and lower board faces;
• said first and second housing halves respectively have lower and upper pluralities of platform parts that respectively engage said lower and upper circuit board faces, with said platform parts lying along said housing sides, and with said lower and upper platform parts being staggered along each of said sides.

An IC card which includes a housing and a circuit board assembly lying in said housing, said housing having upper and lower housing halves that respectively form upper and lower cover portions, said housing having opposite sides, and said cover having longitudinally spaced front and rear ends with a connector at said front end, characterized by:

• said circuit board assembly includes a circuit board with forward and rearward portions, upper and lower board faces, a board outer edge, and a board outer peripheral portion lying adjacent to said board outer edge;
• each of said housing halves has a plurality of longitudinally spaced platform portions at each of its sides and integral with the corresponding cover portions, including platform portions closer to said housing front end than to said rear end and platform portions closer to said housing rear end than to said front end, and said platform portions lie against said board outer peripheral portion and clamp forward and rearward portions of the opposite sides of said board in place on the rest of said housing.

An IC card which includes a housing that has upper and lower housing halves and a circuit board assembly that includes a circuit board and that lies in said housing, said housing having opposite housing sides with one of said housing sides having an exposed conductive part that is exposed at the outside of said housing, said housing having longitudinally spaced front and rear ends and including a connector at said front end, and said upper and lower housing halves respectively form top and bottom cover portions, characterized by:

• said circuit board has upper and lower board faces, has a board outer edge, has a board outer peripheral portion lying adjacent to said board outer edge, and has an electrically conductive ground conductor with a peripheral ground portion lying on said lower board face at said board outer peripheral portion;
• each of said housing halves has a plurality of platforms including a platform at each of its sides that presses against said board outer peripheral portion and that holds said board in place on the rest of said housing;
• a first of said platforms has a conductive platform surface which lies against said peripheral ground portion and which is electrically connected to said exposed conductive part of one of said housing sides, to both support and electrically ground said circuit board ground plane.