Granted Patent B2

US 12,481,860 · App. 18/788,259 · Granted Nov 25, 2025

Inventors: Adam Lowe (Somerset, NJ); Michele Logan (Madison, NJ); Dori Skelding (North Plainfield, NJ); Syeda Hussain (Somerset, NJ)

Assignee: CompoSecure, LLC

G06K19/07792G06K19/02G06K19/0723G06K19/07794

Abstract

Claims (34)

1 . A transaction card having a card periphery defined by a plurality of sides including first and second parallel short sides and first and second parallel long sides, the short sides relatively shorter than the long sides, the card comprising:

a metal layer having a front surface and a back surface;

an opening in the metal layer having a first edge relatively closest to the first short side of the card periphery; and

a discontinuity in the metal layer comprising a gap in the metal layer extending from the front surface to the back surface, the discontinuity defining a path from an origin at the card periphery and terminating at a terminus in the opening, wherein one of the terminus or the origin are located relatively closer to a line defined by the first long side of the card periphery than the other, wherein the first short side of the card periphery has a region aligned with the first edge of the opening and the origin is located on the card periphery outside the aligned region, and wherein the path of the discontinuity has at least one section of curved geometry.

2 . The transaction card of claim 1 , wherein the opening in the metal layer is sized to accommodate a transponder chip module, the opening also having a second edge relatively closest to the first long side of the card periphery, a third edge relatively closest to the second long side of the card periphery, the first edge relatively closer to the short side of the card periphery than the second edge is to the long side of the card periphery, and the second edge relatively closer to the first long side of the card periphery than the third edge is to the second long side of the card periphery, the edges of the opening defining corners;

wherein the first edge is aligned with a first section of the card periphery; and

wherein the path has a length greater than a shortest distance from the terminus to the side of the card periphery containing the origin.

3 . The transaction card of claim 1 , wherein the path comprises at least two changes in direction of 90 degrees or more.

4 . The transaction card of claim 3 , wherein at least a portion of the path of the discontinuity defines a stairstep geometry comprising more than two changes in direction of 90 degrees.

5 . The transaction card of claim 4 , wherein one of the at least two changes in direction comprises the at least one section of curved geometry.

6 . The transaction card of claim 1 , wherein the path of the discontinuity has one or more changes in direction greater than or equal to 90 degrees, wherein at least one change in direction comprises the at least one section of curved geometry.

7 . The transaction card of claim 1 , further comprising the transponder chip module disposed in the opening, wherein the metal layer comprises a booster antenna or amplifier for the transponder chip module.

8 . The transaction card of claim 1 , further comprising a first non-metal layer disposed on a first surface of the metal layer.

9 . The transaction card of claim 1 , wherein the discontinuity is optically visible from one or both surfaces of the card.

10 . The transaction card of claim 1 , wherein the discontinuity is not optically visible from at least one surface of the card.

11 . The transaction card of claim 1 , wherein the opening is a stepped opening having a first open area defined in the first surface of the card and a second open area defined in the second surface of the card, wherein the first open area is greater than the second open area.

12 . The transaction card of claim 1 , wherein the metal layer defines a first area and comprises a pocket defining a second area smaller than the first area, further comprising a non-metal insert disposed in the pocket.

13 . The transaction card of claim 12 , wherein the discontinuity is contained within the area defined by the pocket.

14 . The transaction card of claim 12 , wherein the opening is contained within the area defined by the pocket.

15 . The transaction card of claim 12 , comprising a first pocket on a front surface of the metal layer and a second pocket on a back surface of the metal layer, and a first non-metal insert disposed in the first pocket and a second non-metal insert disposed in the second pocket.

16 . The transaction card of claim 1 , wherein the transaction card comprises a plurality of metal layers.

17 . The transaction card of claim 2 , wherein the terminus is located on the first edge at a point non-equidistant from the second edge and the third edge.

18 . The transaction card of claim 1 , further comprising a non-metal material disposed in the gap defined by the discontinuity.

19 . The transaction card of claim 18 , wherein the non-metal material fills the gap.

20 . A method for making the transaction card of claim 1 , the method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing the metal layer;

(b) creating the opening in the metal layer sized to accommodate the transponder chip module;

(c) creating the discontinuity; and

(d) disposing the transponder chip module in the opening.

21 . A transaction card having a card periphery defined by a plurality of sides including first and second parallel short sides and first and second parallel long sides, the short sides relatively shorter than the long sides, the card comprising:

a metal layer having a front surface and a back surface;

an opening in the metal layer having a first edge relatively closest to the first short side of the card periphery; and

a discontinuity in the metal layer comprising a gap in the metal layer extending from the front surface to the back surface, the discontinuity defining a path from an origin at the card periphery and terminating at a terminus in the opening, wherein one of the terminus or the origin are located relatively closer to a line defined by the first long side of the card periphery than the other, wherein the first short side of the card periphery has a region aligned with the first edge of the opening and the origin is located on the card periphery outside the aligned region, and wherein the path of the discontinuity has at least one section that extends toward the terminus along a direction that is parallel to the first long side of the card periphery.

22 . The transaction card of claim 21 , wherein the at least one section comprises a first section extending from the origin toward the terminus that is parallel to the first long side of the card periphery, and a second section extending to the terminus that is parallel to the first long side of the card periphery.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (358)