Smart card reader with electrostatic discharge protection
AssigneeAirBorn, Inc.
InventorsJohn Lincoln Grant, Michael Patrick Cuff, Claude Grant Folta
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A smart card reader having several advantageous grounding techniques and several techniques to insure proper electrical isolation of the electrical components of the card reader. The smart card reader has a base and a cover. In certain techniques, a non-conductive base is grounded to a conductive, grounded cover. In another technique, a grounded base formed of a statically dissipative composite material is utilized.
Claims11
An improved smart card reader having a non-conductive base and a conductive, grounded cover mated with said base to form a card slot for insertion of a smart card, and in which said base has a plurality of terminals for contacting an operative region of said smart card, wherein the improvement comprises:
- a plurality of terminal-isolating slots formed in said cover, each of said plurality of terminal-isolating slots being disposed directly above one of said plurality of terminals for isolating said terminals and said cover from one another, each of said plurality of terminal-isolating slots being sized to admit a terminal thereinto upon flexure of said terminal.
An improved smart card reader having a non-conductive base and a conductive, grounded cover mated with said base to form a slot for insertion of a smart card, and in which said base has at least one terminal having a first end for electrically connecting to a printed circuit board and a second end for contacting an operative region of smart card, wherein the improvement comprises:
- a conductive post downwardly depending from said cover and through a grounded hole in said printed circuit board;
- said post making electrical connection with said grounded hole.
In a method for grounding a conductive cover of a smart card reader, wherein said card reader has a non-conductive base mated with said cover, and wherein said card reader is electrically connected to a printed circuit board, the improvement comprising:
- forming a conductive post downward from said cover and through a grounded hole in said post is in physical contact with, and is electrically connected with, said grounded hole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.