WO2010031917A1 - Portable object with locked graphic customisation inside the housing thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a portable object (1) of the USB key type, comprising a housing (3) in which a printed circuit (9) is arranged and provided with at least one electronic component (11) having certain terminals connected to a connector (5) provided at one end of said housing, wherein said housing (3) includes at least one transparent wall (15) and an opening (13) capable of receiving a holder (19) for a graphic customisation means (17), said graphic customisation means (17) being visible through said transparent wall when the holder (19) provided with the graphic customisation means (17) is inserted into said opening (3), characterised in that the opening (13) has the shape of a slot formed in the housing and in that the holder (19) consists of a drawer that can be inserted and irreversibly and irremovably locked into said slot.

Description

 Portable object with locked graphic customization inside its case

The invention relates to an improvement to smart portable objects, of the type that must include graphic personalization.

By graphic personalization, is meant in this patent application any graphic representation likely to identify the carrier of the object. It can therefore be in particular an image, an identification code, but most often it will be the photo ID of the wearer of the object.

The invention finds a particularly useful application, without limitation, in the field of portable objects type USB ("Universal Serial Bus", in English terminology), which in some applications, must be authenticated as being used by their rightful owner. In the remainder of the description, it will simplify to describe the invention in relation to a portable object constituted by a USB key, it being understood that the invention extends to the graphic personalization of other portable objects.

STATE OF THE ART Today, USB sticks, and especially smart USBs (that is to say, USB keys with security features such as those incorporating a smart card component) can offer the same level security cards as they can be electrically customized (programming of data and possible software) as smart cards, that is to say they can store in a memory of the user information , or points or units of value related to services such as mobile telecommunications, financial services, or applications of physical or logical access to resources.

While graphic customization of smart cards is well mastered, there are problems in graphically customizing other portable objects, such as USB sticks, given the particular structure of these objects. have a different format than the flat and standardized structure (defined by ISO / IEC 7816-1) of the body of a smart card.

In fact, because of their flat and thin structure, the bodies of smart cards are graphically personalized by printing, on very high speed production lines capable of customizing several thousand products per hour, and smart cards. Finished are sent to their recipients without requiring storage or intermediate marketing including superstores type stores.

Among the methods used for the graphic personalization of smart cards, consisting in integrating a user's photograph or an image on a smart card, one of the following methods is used today:

- The integration of a photo ID of the user in a slot of the smart card, then covered with a plastic film and self-adhesive. It is an unreliable solution and has an aesthetic appearance unpleasant. - Factory graphic customization, which consists of printing a photo on the card body by thermal printing, sublimation printing, or laser printing. It is a good quality solution but requires the smart card to be passed through an industrialized customization center that processes user data to graphically and electrically customize smart cards. This solution increases production cycle times, and makes the user's journey more complex (creation of a file with a photo, waiting at an operator's desk to finalize the file and delivery of the personalized object), and ultimately significantly increases the cost of the card.

One could think that to graphically customize smart objects having a format different from that of smart cards, such as USB sticks, it is sufficient to adapt known personalization processes for smart cards. But reality shows that this exercise is not simple, if not impossible.

Indeed, USB sticks have a less flat and less standardized structure than smart cards, which makes their graphic customization very difficult on production lines similar to those of smart cards. In addition, the distribution USB sticks are usually made in smaller volumes than for smart cards, through specialized stores. The low volumes and the variety of formats mean that these marketing structures are reluctant to acquire industrialized personalization centers. Ultimately, high-volume customization solutions such as those known for smart cards, are not suitable for portable objects type USB key.

In addition, the market demand for USB keys or equivalent equipped with graphic personalization being quite recent, few high-performance customization solutions have so far been proposed for this type of product.

One of the methods used to graphically customize a USB key is to postpone the problem on the personalization of a smart card, then to integrate the smart card and personalized by ensuring that the custom smart card is visible on the USB key . Thus, a laser printed chip card is personalized graphically, in particular a smart card in the format of the SIM cards used in mobile telephony, and then this personalized SIM card is inserted into an appropriate receptacle of the USB key, said receptacle being covered by a transparent window so that the graphic personalization of the SIM card can remain visible through the window of the USB key.

But this method also has disadvantages, insofar as the SIM card must be provided by a personalization center, that the customization is obviously a very small format corresponding to the format of the SIM card, and that in addition the product finished does not present a pleasant aesthetic appearance. In addition, the SIM card introduces an additional cost in the cost of the product. Moreover, it is easy to replace the graphically personalized SIM card, for example with a user photo, with another SIM card presenting a different photo, which leaves the door open to all kinds of fraud attempts, especially when the use of the USB key in physical access control type applications. GOALS OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is therefore to overcome the problem and the disadvantages of the state of the art.

Another object of the invention is to propose a portable object comprising a graphic personalization not requiring the intervention of an industrialized personalization center, and preferably a portable object whose graphic personalization can be carried out by the user of the computer. portable object itself.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable object with a graphic personalization that can not be modified or removed without this action is visible on the product. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a portable electronic device, in particular of the USB key type, comprising a housing in which is disposed a printed circuit provided with at least one electronic component, some terminals of which are connected to an electrical connector secured to the housing, said housing having at least one transparent wall and an aperture adapted to receive a support of a graphic personalization means, said graphic personalization means being visible through said transparent wall when the medium provided with the graphic personalization means is inserted into said opening, characterized in that said opening has the shape of a slot in the housing, and in that said support is constituted by a drawer adapted to be inserted and locked irreversibly and releasably in said slot.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the portable object, the housing has a substantially parallelepipedal shape, which allows for an opening in the form of a transverse slot arranged in one end of the housing, and to carry out the support of the graphic personalization under the shape of a drawer adapted to be inserted into said slot.

Preferably, the graphic personalization means is constituted by an identity photo of the user of the portable object, which can then itself have his picture on the drawer and insert the drawer into the slot. Preferably, the drawer is provided with at least one stop lug against which is placed one end of the photo, so that the photo is retained inside the housing by the drawer when it is engaged. In a preferred embodiment of the invention to ensure the authenticity of the graphic personalization of the portable object, it comprises means for locking the drawer in the housing. This lock is preferably unmountable, which ensures that the photo of the user can not be changed fraudulently. In an advantageous embodiment, the locking means are constituted by a locking ramp arranged inside the housing, this ramp being able to cooperate with a locking orifice arranged on the drawer carrying the photograph, so that the insertion of the slide into the housing causes the locking hole to engage the locking ramp and consequently the releasable fixing of the slide in the housing. In order to ensure a good quality engagement, the drawer is made of a flexible and elastic material.

Preferably, the locking hole arranged on the drawer is surrounded by a marking may cause a forced extraction of the drawer outside the housing. In a simple embodiment, this marking is constituted by a color ring whose appearance changes in case of forced extraction of the drawer. This colored ring can be made using a varnish whose appearance will reveal any attempt at fraud, such as a cut of the colored ring at the end of the drawer, since this part will be clearly visible at through the transparent window.

The idea is to make obvious any fraud attempt through the presence of the transparent cover and marking around the locking point on the drawer. By having a crown or a red ring for example on the drawer around the locking hole, a simple visual check will allow to quickly check that the crown has not been cut or broken to allow a removal of the drawer and therefore a change of the photo. According to an advantageous embodiment, the color ring is made by means of a varnish whose appearance or appearance changes indicates any attempt of fraud.

In order to hope to fraudulently change the photo, the potential fraudster will have to make the break of the ring before the insertion of the photo and in a manner perfectly invisible to the naked eye, which will require a fairly strong expertise for the fraudster. Without this prior break it becomes difficult to extract the drawer to change the picture given the positioning of the locking mechanism. This kind of attempt will inevitably lead to a visible degradation of the case.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description of the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 represents a portable object of the USB key type, in elevation and in section, as well as its graphic personalization means according to the invention, before their insertion in the USB key;

- Figure 2 shows an elevational view in section of the USB key of Figure 1, after insertion of the graphic personalization means in the USB key;

FIG. 3A is a top view of the transparent cover of the case of the USB key of FIG.

- Figure 3B shows a top view, the drawer for receiving a graphic personalization and to be inserted into the housing of the USB key;

- Figure 3C shows a top view of a graphic personalization means of the USB key, in the form of a photograph of the user's identity. FIG. 1 is a reference. In this figure, the components of a USB key according to the invention are shown in elevation and in section, these components being shown in an exploded position, before assembly. There is thus shown a USB key 1 which conventionally comprises a body or housing 3, a male USB connector 5 protruding from one end of the housing and intended to be inserted into a female USB connector (not shown), connected for example to an input port of a computer or other device with a USB connection.

Typically, the USB key 1 is provided with a protective cap 7, frictionally threaded on the USB connector 5 when the USB key is not used.

In known manner, the male USB connector 5 is connected to a printed circuit 9 disposed in the housing 3, and provided with the electronic components 11 of the key, which comprise in particular a memory.

According to the invention, one of the ends of the housing, namely in the case of a USB key, the end of the housing 3 opposite to the USB connector, comprises a

[0 transverse opening or slot 13, to insert a means of graphic customization. Of course, so that the graphical personalization means once introduced into the slot 13 is visible from outside the USB key, it is necessary that the wall 15 of the housing located above the graphic personalization and constituting the cover of the housing, be transparent.

Thanks to the slot 13 provided at the end of the housing, it is therefore easy for a user to insert his photo ID 17 in the housing of the USB key, so that it is visible from the outside. But this measure alone does not ensure product safety vis-à-vis attempts fraud, since it remains possible. to remove the photo after insertion. In order to make this extraction practically

> o impossible, the invention provides to previously arrange the photo on a tray-shaped support 19 provided with one or more stop lugs 21 against which is placed the end 23 of the photo. In this way, when the drawer 19 provided with the photo 17 is placed in the housing, the lug 21 prevents access to the photo from outside the housing.

But in order to perfect the device, it is still necessary to prevent the removal of the drawer 19 after insertion into the housing. For this purpose, the invention provides definitive locking means between the drawer and the housing, which means that when the drawer provided with the personalization picture is inserted fully into the housing of the USB key, it is impossible to remove them without visibly damaging at least one of the components of the device. In a simple and advantageous embodiment of these locking means, there is provided, at the end of the slide 19 opposite to that which bears the locking pin 21, a locking orifice 25 intended to cooperate with a locking ramp. 27 on which the hole 25 of the drawer 19 comes to engage when

The introduction of the drawer 19 into the housing 3.

FIG. 2 shows the components of FIG. 1, in the assembled position, and FIG. 3 shows the components of the USB key in plan view.

To proceed with the assembly, the user simply has his photo 17, image upwards, in the drawer 19, so that the end 23 of the photo is held by the stop pins 21. Then it inserts the drawer provided with the photo in the slot 13 of the housing 3. As the drawer 19 advances in the body of the housing, the distal end of the slide provided with the locking orifice 25 slides on the locking ramp 27, which creates an elastic deformation of the slide 19. When the locking orifice 25 comes opposite the end of the locking ramp 27,

The drawer 19 elastically returns to its initial position, which has the effect of engaging the locking hole 25 on the flange 29 of the locking ramp. From there, the drawer 19 is locked in the body of the housing 3 of the USB key, and the same is true for the picture 17 of the user. So we can say that the USB key has been graphically customized by the user's photo, and that this

: o customization is final.

Of course, one could imagine, in the context of a fraudulent activity, a forced extraction of the drawer 19 to remove the picture of the user and replace it with another. But this operation would most likely result in tearing of the end of the drawer 19, around the orifice 25. In order to make such a

^> 5 visible operation, the invention provides to provide the periphery of the opening 25 of the drawer with a marking 30 (see Figure 3B), including a color marking surrounding the locking hole 25.

Thus, it will be easy for any controller of the USB key, to find that the color marking is intact, and therefore that the user's picture is indeed the

• o original photo, or on the contrary to note that the color marking has been destroyed or modified, meaning that the personalization of the USB key has been compromised or altered.

BENEFITS OF THE INVENTION Finally, the solution proposed by the invention allows a graphic personalization of portable objects such as USB keys, by the end user, very simply, and without going through a graphic personalization center. In addition, the size of the customization by inserting the identity photo of the user is limited only by the size of the case of the USB key, which allows a customization of larger size than in the case of insertion a personalized SIM card.

In addition, the guarantee of the security of the personalization is ensured by the fact that the photo inserted by the user can not be replaced without causing visible damage on the product. Most fraud attempts can be thwarted.

. Finally, the insertion of the graphic personalization element in a housing protected by a transparent face of the housing makes it possible to guarantee a long service life to the graphic personalization and to the key. In practice, the lifetime of the customization will be equivalent to the life of the USB key. As a result, personalized USB keys of this kind allow a simple and effective visual control of the product carrier

The invention also has advantages for operators who are led to identify customers or users using the USB key and personalized. Indeed, the proposed solution allows them not to change their visual control solutions already used. Thus, in the case of a passenger transport operator (train, bus, metro), it can continue to provide access to means of transport as in the past, in view of the photo of the user such than inserted into the USB stick or other smart portable object. Of course, well other client applications may benefit from the invention, such as the physical access control in the enterprise, without any limiting character.

Finally, from the point of view of LJSB key distributors, the distribution of non-personalized portable objects can be provided in supermarkets or from internet transactions, and the user can himself very simply proceed to the graphic personalization of the object by non-reversibly inserting a graphic personalization, such as his photo ID.

Claims

1. Portable object (1) of the USB key type, comprising a housing (3) in which is disposed a printed circuit (9) provided with at least one electronic component (11), some terminals of which are connected to a connector (5) disposed at one end of the housing, said housing (3) having at least one transparent wall (15) and an opening (13) adapted to receive a support (19) of a graphic personalization means (17), said personalization means a graphic (17) being visible through said transparent wall when the support (19) provided with the graphic personalization means (17) is inserted into said opening (13), characterized in that said opening (13) has the shape of a slot in the housing, and in that said support (19) is constituted by a drawer adapted to be inserted and locked irreversibly and releasably in said slot. 2. Portable object according to claim 1, characterized in that said housing (3) has a substantially parallelepipedal shape, in that said opening (13) has the shape of a slot arranged in one end of the housing. 3. Portable object according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that said graphical personalization means is constituted by an identity photo (17) of the user of the portable object. 4. Portable object according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that said drawer (19) is provided with at least one stop lug (21) against which is placed one end (23) of the photo (17). 5. Portable object according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises locking means (25,27,29) of the slide (19) in the housing (3). 6. Portable object according to claim 5, characterized in that said locking means are constituted by a locking ramp (27) arranged inside the housing (3) and having a flange (29), adapted to cooperate with a locking hole (25) arranged on the drawer (19) carrying the picture (17), ) so that the insertion of the drawer into the housing causes the engagement of the the locking hole (25) on the flange (29) of the locking ramp (25) and causes the removable fixing of the drawer in the housing. 7. Portable object according to claim 6, characterized in that the slide (19) is made of a flexible and elastic material. 8. Portable object according to claim 7, characterized in that the locking hole (25) is surrounded by a marking (30) may cause a forced extraction of the drawer outside the housing. 9. Portable object according to claim 8, characterized in that said marking is a color ring whose appearance changes in case of forced extraction of the drawer. 10. Portable object according to claim 9, characterized in that the color ring is made by means of a varnish whose appearance or appearance change indicates any attempt of fraud.