CN117135808A

CN117135808A - Flexible circuit board, watchband and wearable equipment

Info

Publication number: CN117135808A
Application number: CN202310470109.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 于浩; 郭学平
Original assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Current assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-04-21
Filing date: 2023-04-21
Publication date: 2023-11-28

Abstract

The application provides a flexible circuit board, a watchband and wearable equipment, and relates to the technical field of electronic equipment. The problem that the tensile rate of an electric connecting wire of the existing wearable device is not ideal, the reliability of electric connection between a functional module and a main board is easy to reduce, and then the functional module is invalid, and user experience is affected is solved. The flexible circuit board comprises a circuit board body and an elastic bearing piece. The circuit board body is provided with a first end and a second end, the first end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with the functional module, and the second end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with a main board of the electronic equipment. The elastic bearing piece is provided with a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the bearing plane. The circuit board body is bent and extended on the bearing plane.

Description

Flexible circuit board, watchband and wearable equipment

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of electronic equipment, in particular to a flexible circuit board, a watchband and wearable equipment.

Background

With the continuous development of technology, wearable devices gradually develop to sports type and medical treatment, so as to add more functions to the wearable devices. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate some functional modules in the wristband of the wearable device, which are electrically connected to the motherboard by electrical connection lines (e.g., flexible circuit board or wires). However, the tensile rate of the electrical connection wire is not ideal, which can reduce the reliability of electrical connection between the functional module and the motherboard, and affect the user experience.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a flexible circuit board, a watchband and a wearable device, which are used for solving the problems that the electrical connection reliability between a functional module of the wearable device and a main board is reduced and user experience is affected due to the fact that the tensile rate of the existing electrical connection line is not ideal.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiment of the present application adopts the following technical scheme:

in a first aspect, a flexible circuit board is provided that includes a circuit board body and an elastic carrier. The circuit board body is provided with a first end and a second end, the first end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with the functional module, and the second end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with a main board of the electronic equipment. The elastic bearing piece is provided with a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the bearing plane. The circuit board body is bent and extended on the bearing plane.

According to the flexible circuit board provided by the first aspect of the application, the circuit board body is arranged on the elastic bearing piece, so that the circuit board body can be stretched or reset along with the elastic bearing piece. And because the circuit board body is bent and extended on the bearing plane, when the elastic bearing piece is stretched, the circuit board body can be gradually stretched along with the elastic bearing piece, so that the circuit board body can be prevented from being broken and damaged.

In addition, the elastic bearing piece is provided with a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the bearing plane. Namely, the circuit board body is bent and extended in the bearing plane, so that the thickness dimension in the direction perpendicular to the bearing plane is not increased, and the thinning of the flexible circuit board is facilitated.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the circuit board body forms a wave-shaped structure on the bearing plane along a direction from the first end to the second end. With this structure, when the elastic carrier is stretched, the circuit board body can be gradually stretched in a direction in which the first end points to the second end. When the elastic bearing piece is reset, the circuit board body also recovers the wavy structure. Thereby facilitating the improvement of the stretchability of the circuit board body along the first end toward the second end.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the surface of the elastic carrier is a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the surface of the elastic carrier. The circuit board body is fixed on the surface of the elastic bearing piece, so that the difficulty of a processing technology is reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

In one possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the circuit board body includes a dielectric layer, a metal layer, and a protective layer. The metal layers are laminated on the surfaces of the two sides of the dielectric layer. The surface of the metal layer far away from the dielectric layer is covered with a protective layer. Under this structure, the dielectric layer both sides all are provided with the metal level to, through covering the protective layer on the metal level, thereby be favorable to protecting the metal level formation, be favorable to promoting the reliability of circuit board body.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the circuit board body further includes a shielding layer, and a surface of the protective layer, which is far from the metal layer, is covered with the shielding layer. Under this structure, be favorable to promoting the electromagnetic shield performance of circuit board body through the shielding layer, be favorable to further promoting the reliability of circuit board body.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the circuit board body is embedded in an inner portion of the elastic bearing member, and a bearing plane is formed by the inner portion of the elastic bearing member and a parallel of the fit of the circuit board body. Under this structure, the circuit board body is embedded inside the elastic bearing piece, can form effective protection to the circuit board body.

In one possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the circuit board body includes a dielectric layer and a metal layer. Both side wall surfaces of the dielectric layer are provided with metal layers. Under this structure, medium layer and metal level are all embedded in inside the elastic bearing piece, therefore, do not need to additionally set up structures such as protective layer, are favorable to saving material, reduce cost.

In addition, the circuit board body can further comprise a shielding layer, wherein the shielding layer is arranged on one side, far away from the dielectric layer, of the metal layer and is embedded in the elastic bearing piece, so that the electromagnetic shielding performance of the circuit board body is improved.

In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the material of the elastic carrier comprises PDMS material, ecoflex material, PTFE material, SEBS material, biodegradable plastic or hydrogel.

In addition, the material of the dielectric layer may include one or more of PI material or PDMS material, biodegradable plastic or hydrogel, and the like.

In a second aspect, a flexible circuit board is provided that includes a circuit board body and an elastomeric carrier. The circuit board body is provided with a first end and a second end, the first end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with the functional module, and the second end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with a main board of the electronic equipment; a plurality of through grooves are formed in the circuit board body and are distributed at intervals. The elastic bearing piece is provided with a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the bearing plane.

According to the flexible circuit board provided by the second aspect of the application, the circuit board body is provided with the through grooves, and each through groove penetrates through the two surfaces of the circuit board body along the direction perpendicular to the bearing plane, so that the stretchability of the circuit board body is improved. And the circuit board body is adhered and fixed on the elastic bearing piece, so that the circuit board body can be stretched or reset along with the elastic bearing piece, and the circuit board body is prevented from being broken and lost. In addition, the elastic bearing piece is provided with a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the bearing plane, so that the thickness dimension in the direction perpendicular to the bearing plane is not increased, and the thinning of the flexible circuit board is facilitated.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, a plurality of groups of through grooves are formed in the circuit board body, each group of through grooves includes at least one through groove, and the plurality of groups of through grooves are distributed along a direction that a first end of the circuit board body points to a second end. Therefore, a plurality of groups of through grooves are distributed along the direction of the first end of the circuit board body pointing to the second end, so that the stretchable performance of the circuit board body along the direction of the first end pointing to the second end can be improved, and the circuit board body can be stretched or reset along with the elastic bearing piece.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the plurality of groups of through slots include a plurality of groups of first through slots and a plurality of groups of second through slots, each group of first through slots includes at least one first through slot, and each group of second through slots includes at least one second through slot; the plurality of groups of first through grooves and the plurality of groups of second through grooves are sequentially and alternately distributed along the direction of the first end of the circuit board body pointing to the second end; the second through groove extends along a direction parallel to the bearing plane and perpendicular to the first end of the circuit board body and points to the second end, penetrates through the side wall of the circuit board body, and only penetrates through one side wall of the circuit board body. Therefore, the first through groove is formed in the middle of the circuit board body, and the second through groove is formed in the side wall of the circuit board body, so that the tensile property of the circuit board body, which points to the second end along the first end, can be further improved.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, a direction in which the first end of the circuit board body points to the second end is the first direction. The width of the through groove along the first direction is a first width, the width of the through groove along the direction parallel to the bearing plane is a second width, and the first width is smaller than the second width. Under this structure, because the first width of logical groove is less than the second width, consequently, the circuit board body can be better along the tensile formula of first direction to the circuit board body is along with the tensile and reset of elastic bearing piece along first direction.

In one possible implementation manner of the second direction, the surface of the elastic bearing member is a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the surface of the elastic bearing member. The circuit board body is fixed on the surface of the elastic bearing piece, so that the difficulty of a processing technology is reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

In one possible implementation of the second direction, the circuit board body includes a dielectric layer, a metal layer, and a protective layer. The metal layers are laminated on the surfaces of the two sides of the dielectric layer. The surface of the metal layer far away from the dielectric layer is covered with a protective layer. Under this structure, the dielectric layer both sides all are provided with the metal level to, through covering the protective layer on the metal level, thereby be favorable to protecting the metal level formation, be favorable to promoting the reliability of circuit board body.

In a possible implementation manner of the second direction, the circuit board body further includes a shielding layer, and a surface of the protective layer, which is far away from the metal layer, is covered with the shielding layer. Under this structure, be favorable to promoting the electromagnetic shield performance of circuit board body through the shielding layer, be favorable to further promoting the reliability of circuit board body.

In one possible implementation manner of the second direction, the circuit board body is embedded in the elastic bearing piece, and the bearing plane is formed by the parallel fitting of the elastic bearing piece and the circuit board body. Under this structure, the circuit board body is embedded inside the elastic bearing piece, can form effective protection to the circuit board body.

In one possible implementation of the second direction, the circuit board body includes a dielectric layer and a metal layer. Both side wall surfaces of the dielectric layer are provided with metal layers. Under this structure, medium layer and metal level are all embedded in inside the elastic bearing piece, therefore, do not need to additionally set up structures such as protective layer, are favorable to saving material, reduce cost.

In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the material of the elastic carrier comprises PDMS material, biodegradable plastic or hydrogel.

In addition, the material of the dielectric layer may include PI material or PDMS material, biodegradable plastic or hydrogel, etc.

In a third aspect, a flexible circuit board is provided that includes a circuit board body and an elastomeric carrier. The circuit board body is provided with a first end and a second end, the first end of the circuit board body is used for being connected with the functional module, and the second end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with a main board of the electronic equipment. The direction that the first end of flexible circuit board points to the second end is the length direction of elasticity carrier, and the circuit board body is around locating on the elasticity carrier to extend along the length direction of elasticity carrier, circuit board body and elasticity carrier fixed connection.

According to the flexible circuit board provided by the third aspect of the application, the circuit board body is wound on the elastic bearing piece and extends along the length direction of the elastic bearing piece, so that the circuit board body forms an approximately spiral structure, and the tensile property of the circuit board body is improved. And, because the elastic bearing piece has good elasticity performance, consequently, when the elastic bearing piece is stretched along its length direction, the circuit board body can stretch gradually along with the elastic bearing piece, and when the elastic bearing piece resets, the circuit board body also can reset in step to can reduce the circuit board body and be excessively stretched, perhaps by the risk of breaking the damage.

In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the circuit board body is attached and fixed on a surface of the elastic carrier. Under this structure, the circuit board body can be fixed in the surface of elastic bearing piece through modes such as gluing to be favorable to reducing the technology degree of difficulty, in order to promote production efficiency.

In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, a receiving groove is formed on a surface of the elastic carrier, an extending direction of the receiving groove is the same as an extending direction of the circuit board body, and the circuit board body is disposed in the receiving groove. Thus, the metal layer is formed by electroplating the metal material in the accommodating groove, and the process difficulty can be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the circuit board body is embedded inside the elastic carrier. That is, the circuit board body is inside the elastic bearing member, around the axis of the elastic bearing member (that is, the axis parallel to the length direction of the elastic bearing member), and extends along the length direction of the elastic bearing member. Thereby forming an approximately helical structure inside the elastic carrier and being able to be stretched and reset with the elastic carrier. Therefore, the circuit board body is embedded in the elastic bearing piece, so that effective protection can be formed on the circuit board body, and the reliability of the flexible circuit board is improved.

In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the elastic carrier has a circular, regular polygon or oval cross section perpendicular to the length direction.

In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the elastic carrier is circular in cross section perpendicular to the length direction.

In a fourth aspect, a wristband is provided for a wearable device, the wristband including a wristband body, a functional module, and a flexible circuit board. The functional module is arranged on the watchband body. The flexible circuit board is the flexible circuit board according to any one of the technical schemes, the flexible circuit board is embedded in the watchband body, and the circuit board body of the flexible circuit board is electrically connected with the functional module.

The watchband provided by the fourth aspect of the application comprises the flexible circuit board according to any one of the above technical aspects. Therefore, the same technical problems can be solved and the same technical effects can be obtained.

In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the functional module includes a sensor, a display module, a camera module, a solar charging module, or a pulse module.

In a fifth aspect, a wearable device is provided that includes a dial, a motherboard, and a wristband. The mainboard is arranged in the dial plate. The watchband is the watchband provided in the fourth aspect, and the watchband is connected with the dial plate, and the flexible circuit board is connected with the mainboard electricity.

The fifth aspect of the application provides a wearable device comprising a wristband as provided in the fourth aspect above. Therefore, the same technical problems can be solved and the same technical effects can be obtained.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a structural diagram of a wearable device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is an exploded view of a wearable device (watchband is not shown in the figure) according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a wristband according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of another wristband according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a flexible circuit board disposed in the wristband provided in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional structural view of the flexible circuit board provided in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another circuit board body of the flexible circuit board provided in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a circuit board body of the flexible circuit board of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the flexible circuit board of FIG. 6 with the circuit board body embedded within the flexible carrier;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a circuit board substrate according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a metal layer forming a wave structure on the dielectric layer provided in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged block diagram of a metal layer provided in FIG. 11 including a plurality of metal lines;

FIG. 13 is a partial block diagram of the metal layer provided in FIG. 11;

fig. 14 is a structural diagram of a circuit board body manufactured by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a wristband according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a block diagram of a circuit board body according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 17 is a structural view of the flexible circuit board shown in fig. 16 after being stretched in a first direction;

FIG. 18 is another distribution structure of through slots in the circuit board body of the flexible circuit board provided in FIG. 16;

fig. 19 is a structural view of the circuit board body provided in fig. 18 after being stretched in a first direction;

fig. 20 is a structural diagram of a dry film and a developing area disposed on a circuit board substrate according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a through slot formed in the circuit board substrate provided in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of yet another wristband according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of a flexible circuit board in the wristband provided in FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of another elastomeric carrier provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 25 is a diagram showing a structure in which a metal layer on a circuit board substrate is processed into a plurality of metal lines according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of the circuit board substrate provided in FIG. 25 forming a circuit board body with a plurality of parallel metal traces;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of a plurality of grooves formed in a substrate according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of the substrate provided in FIG. 27 after being folded in half;

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of a spring carrier formed from the cylindrical substrate provided in FIG. 28;

FIG. 30 is a cross-sectional view of the resilient carrier provided in FIG. 29 along its axial direction;

FIG. 31 is a block diagram of a circuit board body formed in a spiral groove of the resilient carrier provided in FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 is a cross-sectional view of the flexible circuit board provided in FIG. 31 along a radial direction thereof with a protective layer and a shielding layer disposed thereon;

FIG. 33 is a block diagram of a cylindrical elastomeric load bearing member according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 34 is a cross-sectional view of the resilient carrier provided in FIG. 33 with a surface formed with a metal layer;

FIG. 35 is a cross-sectional view of the elastomeric carrier of FIG. 34 in a radial direction;

FIG. 36 is a schematic view of the structure of the metal layer provided in FIG. 35 being cut;

FIG. 37 is a block diagram of the surface of FIG. 34 formed with a spiral structured film;

FIG. 38 is a cross-sectional view of the elastomeric carrier of FIG. 37 in the axial direction;

fig. 39 is a structural view of the circuit board body formed by etching the metal layer provided with the spiral structure film layer provided in fig. 37 and 38.

Reference numerals: 01-a wearable device; 10-dial plate; 11-a housing; 111-middle frame; 112-a rear cover; 12-a display module; 121-a light-transmitting cover plate; 122-a display screen; 20-a main board; 30-watchband; 31-a first part; 32-a second portion; 40-a functional module; 50-a flexible circuit board; 51-a circuit board body; 51 a-through slots; 51 b-a first through slot; 51 c-a second through slot; 511-a dielectric layer; 512-metal layer; 513-a protective layer; 514-a shielding layer; 52-an elastic carrier; 52 a-a bearing plane; 52 b-receiving slots; a 60-connector; 70-a circuit board substrate; 71-seed layer; 72-a substrate; 72 a-a trough; 72 b-helical grooves.

Detailed Description

The following description of the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present application will be given with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments.

Hereinafter, the terms "first," "second," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first", "a second", etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature.

Furthermore, in the present application, directional terms "upper", "lower", etc. are defined with respect to the orientation in which the components are schematically disposed in the drawings, and it should be understood that these directional terms are relative concepts, which are used for description and clarity with respect thereto, and which may be changed accordingly in accordance with the change in the orientation in which the components are disposed in the drawings.

In the present application, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the term "connected" is to be construed broadly, and for example, "connected" may be either fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium.

The application provides a wearable device which can be a smart watch, a smart bracelet and the like. For convenience of explanation, the device is described in detail by taking a smart watch as an example.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, fig. 1 is a block diagram of a wearable device 01 according to an embodiment of the present application, and fig. 2 is an exploded view of a dial 10 according to an embodiment of the present application. In the present embodiment, the wearable device 01 described above may include the dial 10, the main board 20, and the wristband 30. The dial 10 may include a housing 11 and a display module 12.

The above-described case 11 is used to protect electronic components inside the wearable device 01. The housing 11 includes a middle frame 111 and a rear cover 112, the rear cover 112 and the display module 12 are respectively located at two sides of the middle frame 111, and the rear cover 112 is fixedly connected with the middle frame 111. The rear cover 112 and the middle frame 111 may be fixed by bonding, clamping, welding, screwing, or the like. Alternatively, the middle frame 111 and the rear cover 112 may be integrally formed, i.e., the middle frame 111 and the rear cover 112 are integrally formed.

The materials of the middle frame 111 and the rear cover 112 include, but are not limited to, metal, ceramic, plastic, and glass. The material of the middle frame 111 may be the same as or different from the material of the rear cover 112. Therefore, the present application is not particularly limited thereto.

The display module 12 is used for displaying images and the like. The display module 12 may include a light-transmissive cover plate 121 and a display screen 122 (alternatively referred to as a display panel). Specifically, the transparent cover 121 may adopt a common transparent cover 121 for protecting the display screen 122, so as to avoid damage of the display screen 122 caused by collision of external force, and can play a role in dust prevention; the light-transmitting cover plate 121 with the touch function can also be adopted, so that the electronic equipment has the touch function, and the use of a user is more convenient. Therefore, the specific material of the light-transmitting cover plate 121 is not particularly limited in the present application.

In addition, the display 122 may be a flexible display or a rigid display. For example, the display 122 may be an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display, a mini-led (mini organic light-emitting diode) display, a micro-led (micro organic light-emitting diode) display, a micro-organic led (micro organic light-emitting diode) display, a quantum dot led (quantum dot light emitting diode, QLED) display, or a liquid crystal display (liquid crystal display, LCD) or the like.

The main board 20 is disposed inside the housing 11, and is used for electrically connecting electronic components inside the wearable device 01. For example, the electronic component may include a control chip, a camera module, and the like.

The wristband 30 described above is used to wear the wearable device 01 on the wrist of a user. Illustratively, the wristband 30 may be formed as a single piece, with two ends thereof respectively movably connected to two sides of the case 11 of the dial 10, and the user may wear the wristband on his wrist through the stretchability of the material of the wristband 30 itself.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 1 and 2, the watchband 30 may include a first portion 31 and a second portion 32, where the first portion 31 and the second portion 32 are respectively disposed on two sides of the case 11 of the dial 10 and are movably connected with the case 11; also, the first portion 31 and the second portion 32 may be connected by a through groove 51a and a snap, so that the user wears the wearable device 01 on the wrist. The specific structure of the wristband 30 is not particularly limited.

With the continuous increase of the demands of users, the wearable device 01 gradually develops to sports type and medical treatment. Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a block diagram of a watchband 30 according to an embodiment of the present application. Some functional modules 40 may be integrated on the wristband 30 of the wearable device 01 to make the wearable device 01 more functional. For example, the functional module 40 may be a heart rate monitoring sensor, by means of which the heart rate of the wearer can be monitored. And, can show the monitoring result through the display module assembly 12 on the wearable equipment 01 to the user looks over at any time.

In some examples, referring to fig. 3, the functional module 40 may be disposed on the wristband 30, so that the functional module 40 can be close to the pulse of the user, so as to ensure the accuracy of the monitoring result. When the functional module 40 is disposed on the watchband 30, the functional module 40 and the motherboard 20 need to be electrically connected by the flexible circuit board 50 or other electrical connection wires, so as to facilitate signal transmission between the motherboard 20 and the functional module 40.

However, in some application scenarios, the wearable device 01 described above may stretch the wristband 30. For example, in the wearable device 01 with the wristband 30 formed as a whole, since both ends of the wristband 30 are respectively rotatably connected to both sides of the case 11, that is, the device is integrally formed as a closed loop structure, the user needs to put the device on the palm and move to the wrist when wearing the device, and in this process, the device is stretched by the palm when passing through the palm, that is, the wristband 30 is stretched, so that the device can be moved to the wrist of the user.

Based on this, the flexible circuit board 50 disposed inside the wristband 30 is also stretched along with the wristband 30 during the stretching of the wristband 30, and thus, there is a risk of breaking the flexible circuit board 50 during the stretching, and the reliability of the electrical connection between the functional module 40 and the motherboard 20 is reduced.

In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the embodiment of the present application provides a flexible circuit board 50, wherein the flexible circuit board 50 has better stretchability, and the flexible circuit board 50 is embedded in the watchband 30, when the watchband 30 is stretched, the flexible circuit board 50 can be stretched along with the watchband 30, which is beneficial to improving the reliability of the electrical connection between the functional module 40 and the motherboard 20.

Referring to fig. 4 and 5, fig. 4 is a structural diagram of another watchband 30 according to an embodiment of the present application, and fig. 5 is a structural diagram of a flexible circuit board 50 disposed in the watchband 30 according to fig. 4. The flexible circuit board 50 may include a circuit board body 51 and an elastic carrier 52. The circuit board body 51 has a first end and a second end, the first end of the circuit board body 51 is used for electrically connecting with the functional module 40, and the second end of the circuit board body 51 is used for electrically connecting with the motherboard 20. The elastic carrier 52 has a carrying plane 52a, and the circuit board body 51 is adhered to and fixed on the carrying plane 52a of the elastic carrier 52.

In some embodiments, the circuit board body 51 may be bent and extended on the bearing plane 52 a. For example, the circuit board body 51 may form a wave-shaped structure along the direction in which the first end of the circuit board body 51 points to the second end (i.e., the length direction of the watchband 30) on the bearing plane 52 a.

And, the elastic carrier 52 may be one or more of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane), ecoflex (platinum catalyzed silica gel) material, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) material, SEBS (Styrene Ethylene Butylene Styrene, linear triblock copolymer with end segments of polystyrene and intermediate elastic blocks of ethylene-butene copolymer obtained by hydrogenating polybutadiene), biodegradable plastic, or hydrogel. These materials have good elastic properties so as to facilitate stretching and resetting of the circuit board body 51.

In this way, since the circuit board body 51 is fixed on the bearing plane 52a of the elastic bearing member 52 with good elastic performance, and the circuit board body 51 is bent and extended in the bearing plane 52a, that is, repeatedly bent and extended in a wave-shaped structure. When the elastic carrier 52 is stretched, the circuit board body 51 can be stretched from the wavy structure to the linear structure, that is, the circuit board body 51 can be stretched to a linear structure. When the elastic bearing member 52 is reset, the circuit board body 51 is synchronously reset, i.e. restored to the wavy bending structure. Therefore, in the process that the circuit board body 51 gradually extends along with the elastic bearing member 52, the circuit board body 51 only gradually extends from the bending state to the state that tends to be straight, and the circuit board body 51 does not receive a large stretching force, so that the stretchable performance of the flexible circuit board 50 is improved, the risk of the flexible circuit board 50 in the case of breaking and damaging is reduced, and the reliability of the electrical connection between the functional module 40 and the motherboard 20 can be improved.

It can be understood that the circuit board body 51 forms a wave-shaped structure on the bearing plane 52a of the elastic bearing member 52, and each wave-shaped peak formed by the wave-shaped structure may be the same bending radius and bending angle to form a wave-shaped peak. Alternatively, each wave-shaped peak may be set to a different bending radius and bending angle, respectively. The specific structure thereof may be designed and changed according to the specific use situation, and thus the present application is not particularly limited thereto.

In addition, the circuit board body 51 may adopt FCCL (Flexible Copper Clad Laminate ), for example, a single-layer copper clad laminate, a double-layer copper clad laminate, or a multi-layer copper clad laminate. The circuit board body 51 will be described in detail by using a double-layer copper clad laminate as an example.

Specifically, referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a cross-sectional structure diagram of the flexible circuit board 50 provided in fig. 5. The circuit board body 51 may include a dielectric layer 511 and a metal layer 512. The metal layer 512 is laminated on both side surfaces of the dielectric layer 511. The metal layer 512 may be made of copper or other metal materials. The dielectric layer 511 may be made of PI (Polyimide) material, PDMS material, LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymer ) material, MPI (Modified Polyimide, modified Polyimide) material, ecoflex material, hydrogel, or the like.

In order to further effectively protect the metal layer 512, referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a circuit board body 51 of another flexible circuit board 50 provided in fig. 5, where the circuit board body 51 may further include a protection layer 513, and a surface of the metal layer 512 away from the dielectric layer 511 is covered with the protection layer 513. For example, the protective layer 513 may be made of PI material. So that the metal layer 512 is located between the protective layer 513 and the dielectric layer 511 to form an effective protection for the metal layer 512.

In addition, in order to further improve the electromagnetic shielding performance of the circuit board body 51, referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a circuit board body 51 of the flexible circuit board 50 provided in fig. 5, and the circuit board body 51 may further include a shielding layer 514, where the shielding layer 514 is disposed on a surface of the protection layer 513 away from the metal layer 512. For example, the shielding layer 514 may employ an EMI (Electromagnetic Interference Shielding, electromagnetic interference shielding material) material. Thereby facilitating the improvement of the electromagnetic shielding performance of the circuit board body 51.

With continued reference to fig. 6, 7 and 8, the circuit board body 51 may be adhesively fixed on the surface of the elastic carrier 52, where the surface of the elastic carrier 52 is the bearing plane 52a. The circuit board body 51 is fixed on the surface of the elastic bearing piece 52, which is favorable for reducing the process difficulty and improving the production efficiency.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a cross-sectional structure diagram of the flexible circuit board 50 provided in fig. 6, in which the circuit board body 51 is embedded in the elastic carrier 52. The circuit board body 51 may be embedded in the elastic carrier 52, and the plane where the elastic carrier 52 is attached to the circuit board body 51 may form the carrying plane 52a. I.e. the resilient carrier 52 encloses the circuit board body 51 inside, so that a further protection of the circuit board body 51 can be provided.

Note that, when the circuit board body 51 is embedded in the elastic carrier 52, the circuit board body 51 may not be provided with the protection layer 513. The elastic bearing piece 52 can effectively protect the circuit board body 51.

The specific structure of the flexible circuit board 50 provided in the embodiment of the present application is described above, and the method for manufacturing the flexible circuit board 50 is described in detail below, where the method for manufacturing the flexible circuit board 50 may include the following steps:

in the first step, a double-layer copper-clad plate, i.e. the two side surfaces of the dielectric layer 511 are provided with metal layers 512, and are pressed together by a pressing process, thereby forming the circuit board substrate 70 with a double-layer structure. Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a circuit board substrate 70 according to an embodiment of the application.

Illustratively, the dielectric layer 511 may have a thickness of 12.5 μm and the metal layer 512 may have a thickness of 12 μm. The embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited thereto.

And step two, processing the metal layer 512 of the circuit board substrate 70 to form the wavy structure on the metal layers 512 on both sides of the dielectric layer 511. Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a metal layer 512 with a wavy structure formed on a dielectric layer 511 provided in fig. 10.

Illustratively, the metal layer 512 may be processed by a film pressing, exposing, developing, etching, etc. process, so that the metal layer 512 forms a metal wire having a wave-shaped structure on the surface of the dielectric layer 511. Referring to fig. 12 and 13, fig. 12 is an enlarged structure diagram of the metal layer 512 provided in fig. 11, which includes a plurality of metal wires, and fig. 13 is a partial structure diagram of the metal layer 512 provided in fig. 11. The metal wires of the wavy structure formed by the metal layer 512 may include a plurality of metal wires arranged at equal intervals, and the metal wires may have a width w=60 μm, the interval between the metal wires may be y=100 μm, the bending radius at the wavy vertex formed by the metal wires may be r=5 mm, the bending angle may be α=20°, and the length distance between the end of the wavy vertex and the end of the adjacent other wavy vertex may be l=5 mm. It should be understood that the above parameters are merely illustrative of this embodiment and are not meant to limit the specific structures provided by the embodiments of the present application.

Then, the dielectric layer 511 is cut so that the dielectric layer 511 is formed on the metal layer 512 with the same wave-shaped structure, thereby forming the circuit board body 51, referring to fig. 14, fig. 14 is a structural diagram of the circuit board body 51 according to the embodiment of the present application. For example, the dielectric layer 511 may be cut by a laser ablation, a femtosecond laser cutting, or a die cutting.

Alternatively, the grooves of the wavy structure may be pressed on the dielectric layer 511 by a nanoindentation process, and then the metal layer 512 may be formed in the grooves by an electroplating process. Specifically, a titanium copper seed metal layer may be sputtered on the inner wall of the recess, and then copper metal is electroplated on the seed layer 71, thereby forming the metal layer 512. Or a sputtering process is used to sputter copper metal directly into the recess to form metal layer 512.

Step three, a protective layer 513 and a shielding layer 514 are disposed on the surface of the metal layer 512 away from the dielectric layer 511 by a lamination process, so as to form the circuit board body 51 as shown in fig. 7 or 8.

For example, PI material may be used as the protective layer 513, and silver foil may be used as the shielding layer 514. Then, the protective layer 513 and the shield layer 514 are cut by a process such as punching or laser cutting, so that the same wave-shaped structure as the metal layer 512 and the dielectric layer 511 is formed. Thus, the circuit board body 51 is formed.

And step four, the circuit board body 51 is adhered and fixed on the surface of the elastic carrier 52 or embedded in the elastic carrier 52.

Specifically, the circuit board body 51 may be adhesively fixed to the bearing plane 52a of the elastic bearing member 52 by means of gluing, or the bearing plane 52a of the elastic bearing member 52 may be heated to adhere and fix the elastic bearing member 52 to the circuit board body 51 by self-adhesiveness, thereby forming the flexible circuit board 50 as shown in fig. 8.

It should be noted that, the circuit board body 51 may be embedded in the elastic carrier 52, a concave structure may be formed on the surface of the elastic carrier 52, the circuit board body 51 is fixed in the concave structure, and then the material of the elastic carrier 52 is filled in the concave structure, so as to realize that the circuit board body 51 is embedded in the elastic carrier 52.

Alternatively, the circuit board body 51 may be disposed between two layers of the elastic bearing members 52, that is, the two layers of the elastic bearing members 52 wrap the circuit board body 51, and then the circuit board body 51 is fixed by a pressing process, so as to be embedded in the elastic bearing members 52.

In addition, since the circuit board body 51 may not include the protective layer 513 when the circuit board body 51 is embedded inside the elastic carrier 52, in this case, the above-described step three may be omitted, thereby forming the flexible circuit board 50 as shown in fig. 9.

Fifth, the circuit board body 51 of the flexible circuit board 50 is electrically connected with the functional module 40, and the flexible circuit board 50 and the functional module 40 are embedded in the watchband 30.

Specifically, the circuit board body 51 and the functional module 40 may be electrically connected by using SMT (Surface Mounted Technology) patch technology, hot bar (hot-press solder) technology, laser welding, ACF (anisotropic conductive film) technology, or the like. Then, the flexible circuit board 50 and the functional module 40 are encapsulated inside the wristband 30 by means of integral injection molding, thereby forming the wristband 30 as shown in fig. 4.

The circuit board body 51 and the motherboard 20 may be directly or indirectly electrically connected. For example, referring to fig. 15, fig. 15 is a block diagram of a wristband 30 according to another embodiment of the present application. The circuit board body 51 of the flexible circuit board 50 may be electrically connected to the motherboard 20 with a connector 60 such as a spring piece, a BTB connector, a Pogo Pin (spring Pin), or a ZIF (compressed data link).

In this case, the connector 60 and the functional module 40 may be electrically connected to the circuit board body 51. The flexible circuit board 50, the functional module 40 and the connector 60 are then encapsulated in the wristband 30 by means of integral injection molding.

Finally, the wearable device 01 is formed by connecting the watch band 30 to the dial 10 and electrically connecting the flexible circuit board 50 or the connector 60 to the main board 20.

In the wearable device 01 provided by the embodiment of the application, the flexible circuit board 50 in the watchband 30 has good stretchability, so that when a user stretches the watchband 30 in the use process, the risk of breaking and damaging the flexible circuit board 50 can be reduced, the risk of failure of the functional module 40 can be reduced, and the user experience is facilitated.

Based on this, in other embodiments, the circuit board body 51 of the flexible circuit board 50 may further improve the stretchability of the circuit board body 51 by forming the through groove 51 a. Specifically, referring to fig. 16, fig. 16 is a block diagram of a circuit board body 51 according to another embodiment of the present application, and the circuit board body 51 may be provided with a plurality of through slots 51a, and the plurality of through slots 51a are distributed at intervals. The circuit board body 51 is attached to and fixed on the bearing plane 52a of the elastic bearing member 52. The direction in which the first end of the circuit board body 51 points to the second end is a first direction (Y direction in fig. 16), and the direction along the direction parallel to the carrying plane 52a and perpendicular to the first direction is a second direction (X direction in fig. 16).

The through grooves 51a may include a plurality of groups of through grooves 51a, and when each group of through grooves 51a includes at least one through groove 51a and each group of through grooves 51a includes a plurality of through grooves 51a, the plurality of through grooves 51a are spaced apart along the second direction. The plurality of groups of through grooves 51a are distributed along a direction in which the first end of the circuit board body 51 points to the second end (i.e., the first direction).

In this way, since the circuit board body 51 is provided with the plurality of through grooves 51a, that is, the circuit board body 51 forms a plurality of hollow structures, and the circuit board body 51 can form a continuous structure with continuous bending along the first direction (Y direction). Referring to fig. 17, fig. 17 is a structural diagram of the flexible circuit board 50 shown in fig. 16 after being stretched along the first direction, when the circuit board body 51 is stretched along the first direction, the width of the through groove 51a along the first direction can be gradually increased, and the through groove 51a is gradually bent along the edge perpendicular to the first direction. But the circuit board body 51 does not bear a large tensile force, thereby improving the stretchability of the circuit board body 51.

When the flexible circuit board 50 is stretched with the wristband 30, the elastic carrier 52 is stretched, and the circuit board body 51 is stretched simultaneously with the elastic carrier 52. The circuit board body 51 has improved the stretchability through the plurality of through grooves 51a, so that the circuit board body 51 does not bear a large stretching force in the stretching process, thereby being beneficial to reducing the risk of the circuit board body 51 being broken and damaged in the stretching process. When the external force of stretching the watchband 30 disappears, the elastic bearing piece 52 resets and drives the circuit board body 51 to synchronously reset.

In order to further improve the stretchability of the circuit board body 51, please continue to refer to fig. 16 and 17, the width of the through slot 51a of the circuit board body 51 along the first direction is the first width D1 shown in fig. 16. The width in the direction parallel to the carrying plane 52a and perpendicular to the first direction (i.e., the second direction described above) is the second width D2 shown in fig. 16. Wherein the first width D1 is smaller than the second width D2. In this way, since the second width of the through groove 51a increases, when the circuit board body 51 is stretched in the first direction, the range in which the first width of the through groove 51a increases in the first direction increases, thereby further improving the stretchability of the circuit board body 51 in the first direction.

In addition, referring to fig. 18, fig. 18 is another distribution structure diagram of the through slots 51a on the circuit board body 51 of the flexible circuit board 50 provided in fig. 16, where the through slots 51a may include a plurality of groups of first through slots 51b and a plurality of groups of second through slots 51c, each group of first through slots 51b includes at least one first through slot 51b, and each group of second through slots 51c includes at least one second through slot 51c. The plurality of first through grooves 51b and the plurality of second through grooves 51c are alternately arranged in order along the first direction. That is, a set of first through grooves 51b, a set of second through grooves 51c are sequentially arranged along the first direction, and are sequentially distributed according to the rule.

Wherein the second through slot 51c extends along the second direction and penetrates one side wall of one circuit board body 51. That is, the second through-groove 51c penetrates one side wall provided in the first direction, that is, the second through-groove 51c is notched on one side wall in the first direction. And, a second through slot 51c is formed on only one side wall of the circuit board body 51, so as to ensure that the circuit board body 51 forms a continuous structure along the first direction, so as to avoid the middle of the circuit board body 51 having a break point, and avoid the failure of the circuit board body 51.

For example, with continued reference to fig. 18, one first through groove 51b is disposed in each of the above-mentioned first through grooves 51b, two second through grooves 51c are disposed in each of the second through grooves 51c, the two second through grooves 51c are distributed along the second direction, and the second through grooves 51c respectively penetrate through two side edges of the circuit board body 51 extending along the first direction.

The width dimension b=20 mm, the length dimension l=120 mm, the length w=15 mm of the first through groove 51b, the length w/2=7.5 mm of the second through groove 51c, and the widths of the first through groove 51b and the second through groove 51c are c=5 mm. Further, the circuit board body 51 may be divided into a plurality of unit areas in the first direction, each of which is provided with a set of first through grooves 51b and a set of second through grooves 51c, and a width d=20mm of one unit area.

In this way, referring to fig. 19, fig. 19 is a structural diagram of the circuit board body 51 provided in fig. 18 after being stretched along the first direction. When the circuit board body 51 is stretched in the first direction, each group of first through grooves 51b is gradually separated from the middle part along the first direction, and two adjacent second through grooves 51c are gradually separated from the openings on the edges of two sides, so that the stretching performance of the circuit board body 51 is improved, the stretching distance of the circuit board body 51 in the first direction is increased, and the risk of the flexible circuit board 50 being broken and damaged is further reduced.

It should be noted that the hierarchical structure of the circuit board body 51, the supporting material of the elastic carrier 52, and the manufacturing method of the flexible circuit board 50 are the same as those of the flexible circuit board 50 provided in the foregoing embodiments. The two differ only in the shape of the circuit board body 51 and the manufacturing method differ only in the shape of the cut.

In the second step, a dry film is first disposed on the circuit board substrate 70 and a developing area is formed, referring to fig. 20, fig. 20 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the dry film and the developing area disposed on the circuit board substrate 70 according to the embodiment of the present application. Then, referring to fig. 21, fig. 21 is a diagram showing a structure of forming a through groove 51a on the circuit board substrate 70 provided in fig. 20, and etching the developing area to form the through groove 51a, where the metal layer 512 forms the metal wire. Next, the dry film is peeled off, and the dielectric layer 511 is sheared to form the circuit board body 51 shown in fig. 16 or 18. Therefore, the same structure and manufacturing steps as those of the foregoing embodiment of the flexible circuit board 50 will not be repeated.

The circuit board bodies 51 of the above flexible circuit board 50 are each formed in a planar structure, i.e., fixed on the bearing plane 52a of the elastic bearing member 52. Referring to fig. 22, fig. 22 is a block diagram illustrating another watchband 30 according to an embodiment of the present application, and a circuit board body 51 of the flexible circuit board 50 can form a three-dimensional structure to improve the stretchability of the flexible circuit board 50. The flexible circuit board 50 includes a circuit board body 51 and an elastic carrier 52, and the structure and the material of the circuit board body 51 and the elastic carrier 52 are the same as those of the foregoing embodiments, so that the description thereof will not be repeated.

Specifically, referring to fig. 23, fig. 23 is a block diagram of a flexible circuit board 50 in the wristband 30 provided in fig. 22. The direction in which the first end of the circuit board body 51 points to the second end (i.e., the first direction, the Y direction in fig. 23) is the length direction of the elastic carrier 52, the circuit board body 51 is wound on the elastic carrier 52 and extends along the length direction of the elastic carrier 52, and the circuit board body 51 is fixedly connected with the elastic carrier 52.

For example, with continued reference to fig. 23, the elastic carrier 52 may have a cylindrical structure, i.e., the elastic carrier 52 has a circular structure along a cross section perpendicular to the first direction. The circuit board body 51 is wound on the elastic carrier 52 and extends along the first direction, that is, the circuit board body 51 extends in a spiral manner along the first direction and takes the axis of the elastic carrier 52 as the center line, thereby forming a spring-like structure.

Thus, since the circuit board body 51 is formed in a spring-like structure, the circuit board body 51 has a good stretchability in the first direction. When the wristband 30 of the wearable apparatus 01 is stretched, the elastic carrier 52 is stretched simultaneously, and the circuit board body 51 fixed to the elastic carrier 52 is stretched with the elastic carrier 52. In the stretching process, the spring-like structure formed by the circuit board body 51 is gradually separated along the first direction, namely, the circuit board body 51 is stretched, and the circuit board body 51 does not bear large stretching force, so that the risk of breaking and damaging the circuit board body 51 can be reduced. When the tensile force is removed, the elastic bearing piece 52 is reset, and the circuit board body 51 is synchronously reset along with the elastic bearing piece 52.

It will be appreciated that the cross-sectional shape of the resilient carrier 52 along a direction perpendicular to the first direction may be elliptical, regular polygonal, etc. in addition to the circular configuration described above. Therefore, the present application is not particularly limited thereto.

In some examples, the circuit board body 51 may be fixed to a surface of the elastic carrier 52. For example, the circuit board body 51 is fixedly connected to the elastic carrier 52 by means of gluing. Is beneficial to reducing the process difficulty and improving the production efficiency.

In addition, referring to fig. 24, fig. 24 is a block diagram of another elastic carrier 52 according to an embodiment of the present application, a receiving groove 52b may be formed on a surface of the elastic carrier 52, a spiral direction of the receiving groove 52b is the same as a spiral direction of the circuit board body 51, and the circuit board body 51 is disposed in the receiving groove 52 b. With this structure, the circuit board body 51 can be formed by plating the metal material in the accommodation groove 52b, which is advantageous in reducing the process difficulty.

Alternatively, the circuit board body 51 may be embedded in the elastic carrier 52, so that the cross-sectional dimension of the flexible circuit board 50 is reduced, and the circuit board body 51 can be wrapped to effectively protect the circuit board body 51.

Based on this, the flexible circuit board 50 may be processed by adopting the steps one to three in the foregoing manufacturing method, which is different only in that the circuit board body 51 is processed into a strip structure, please refer to fig. 25 and 26, fig. 25 is a structural diagram of the metal layer 512 on the circuit board substrate 70 provided by the embodiment of the present application processed into a plurality of metal lines, and fig. 26 is a structural diagram of the circuit board substrate 70 provided by fig. 25 forming the circuit board body 51 with a plurality of parallel metal lines.

Then, the circuit board body 51 having the long strip-like structure with a plurality of metal wires is wound around the elastic carrier 52 having the columnar structure as shown in fig. 23 or 24, and the two are fixedly connected by means of gluing. Or by heating the elastic carrier 52, the elastic carrier 52 is adhered and fixed with the circuit board body 51 through self-adhesion. Thereby forming the circuit board body 51 into a spring-like structure, i.e., forming the flexible circuit board 50 of a three-dimensional structure as shown in fig. 23.

After the flexible circuit board 50 is formed, a layer of material of the elastic bearing member 52 can be wrapped on the outer side of the flexible circuit board, and the flexible circuit board is fixed, so that the circuit board body 51 is embedded in the elastic bearing member 52, and more effective protection can be formed on the circuit board body 51.

In addition, the flexible circuit board 50 with the three-dimensional structure provided by the embodiment of the application can be manufactured by the following manufacturing method, and the manufacturing method can include:

step one, a material having better elastic properties is selected as the substrate 72. For example, the PDMS material, ecoflex material, hydrogel, or the like described above may be used. In addition, a dry film may be coated on the substrate 72, and through the steps of exposing, developing, wet etching, stripping the dry film, etc., the grooves 72a parallel to each other are formed on the surface of the substrate 72, the grooves 72a are distributed at intervals along the first direction, and the extending direction of the grooves 72a forms an acute angle with the first direction, referring to fig. 27, fig. 27 is a diagram showing the structure of forming the grooves 72a on the substrate 72 according to the embodiment of the present application.

Illustratively, the slots 72a may have a depth of 12 μm, the slots 72a may have a width of 60 μm, the spacing between adjacent slots 72a may be 100 μm, and the slots 72a may form an angle of 60 ° with the first direction.

Step two, please refer to fig. 28, fig. 28 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the substrate 72 provided in fig. 27 after being folded in half. The substrate 72 is folded in a cylindrical shape, two edges extending in the first direction on the substrate 72 are contacted with each other, and the substrate 72 is heated to a semi-solidified state, so that the two edges of the substrate 72 in the first direction are fixed by self-adhesive bonding, and at this time, the end of each groove 72a and the end of the adjacent groove 72a form an end-to-end connection structure, so that a plurality of grooves 72a form a spiral groove 72b structure extending spirally around the cylindrical substrate 72. And the cylindrical substrate 72 is internally filled with the same raw material as the substrate 72, thereby forming the cylindrical elastic carrier 52, refer to fig. 29, and fig. 29 is a structural diagram of the cylindrical elastic carrier 52 formed by the cylindrical substrate 72 provided in fig. 28. The diameter of the resilient carrier 52 may be about 1mm.

Referring to fig. 30, fig. 30 is a cross-sectional view of the elastic carrier 52 provided in fig. 29 along the axial direction thereof. The seed layer 71 is sputtered on the inner wall of the spiral groove 72b, and the circuit board body 51 is formed in the spiral groove 72b of the elastic carrier 52 provided in fig. 30 by electroplating and etching to obtain a three-dimensional spring-like metal circuit, namely, the circuit board body 51, referring to fig. 31. The metal line surface is flush with the surface of the elastomeric carrier 52. Illustratively, the seed layer 71 material may be titanium copper, 3 μm thick, electroplated metal copper, and 12 μm thick.

In some embodiments, the spiral groove 72b may be filled with a metal material such as aluminum, nickel, silver paste, or nano silver wire ink, and thus the present application is not limited thereto.

In the fourth step, referring to fig. 32, fig. 32 is a cross-sectional structure of the flexible circuit board 50 provided in fig. 31 along the radial direction thereof with the protective layer 513 and the shielding layer 514. The elastic carrier 52 is wrapped with a protective layer 513, and the material of the protective layer 513 may be the same as or different from that of the elastic carrier 52. Then, a shielding layer 514 may be covered outside the protective layer 513 to enhance the electromagnetic shielding effect of the metal line. Thereby forming the flexible circuit board 50 described above.

Note that the materials of the protective layer 513 and the shielding layer 514 are the same as those of the foregoing embodiment. The steps of the connection process with the functional module 40 and the connector 60 and the manufacturing method of the flexible circuit encapsulated in the watchband 30 are the same as those of the previous embodiment, and thus, the description thereof will not be repeated here.

In addition, the flexible circuit board 50 with the three-dimensional structure provided by the embodiment of the application can be manufactured by the following manufacturing method:

referring to fig. 33, fig. 33 is a block diagram of an elastic bearing member 52 with a cylindrical structure according to an embodiment of the present application, and a material with better elastic performance is selected to make the cylindrical elastic bearing member 52. For example, the PDMS material, ecoflex material, hydrogel, or the like described above may be used.

Step two, sputtering the metal of the seed layer 71 on the surface of the elastic carrier 52, and electroplating a metal layer 512 on the metal surface of the seed layer 71 by electroplating. For example, the seed layer 71 material may be titanium copper with a thickness of 3 μm. The metal layer 512 formed by electroplating may be copper with a thickness of 12 μm. Alternatively, the metal layer 512 may be made of a metal material such as aluminum, nickel, or silver paste. Referring to fig. 34 and 35, fig. 34 is a structural diagram of a metal layer 512 formed on a surface of the elastic carrier 52 provided in fig. 33, and fig. 35 is a sectional structural diagram of fig. 34 along a radial direction of the elastic carrier 52.

Referring to fig. 36, fig. 36 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of the metal layer 512 provided in fig. 35 for cutting. Laser ablation or femtosecond laser cutting and other processes are adopted. The laser source is fixed, both ends of the cylindrical elastic carrier 52 are fixed, and the elastic carrier 52 is moved in rotation and orientation (for example, in the first direction, i.e., the Y direction in fig. 36) so that the metal layer 512 on the surface of the elastic carrier 52 is cut to form a metal wire having a spiral structure like a spring, i.e., to form the circuit board body 51.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 37 and 38, fig. 37 is a structural view of the spiral structure layer formed on the surface of fig. 34, and fig. 38 is a sectional structural view of fig. 37 along the axial direction of the elastic carrier 52. A dry film is formed on the surface of the metal layer 512, which forms a spiral structure resembling a spring. Then, through the processes of curing, exposing, developing, wet etching, stripping dry film, etc., the metal layer 512 on the surface of the elastic bearing member 52 forms a metal circuit with a spiral structure similar to a spring, namely, the circuit board body 51 is formed, please refer to fig. 39, fig. 39 is a structural diagram of the circuit board body 51 formed after etching the metal layer 512 provided with the spiral structure film provided in fig. 37 and 38.

Illustratively, the width w=60 μm of the circuit board body 51 (i.e., the metal wires) is similar to the pitch b=100 μm of the spring structures, and the angle α=60° formed between the direction in which the spring structures extend obliquely and the first direction.

In the fourth step, a protective layer 513 is wrapped outside the elastic carrier 52, and the material of the protective layer 513 may be the same as or different from that of the elastic carrier 52. Then, a shielding layer 514 may be covered outside the protective layer 513 to enhance the electromagnetic shielding effect of the metal line. Thereby forming the flexible circuit board 50 shown in fig. 32 described above.

In addition, the metal layer 512 having a spiral structure similar to a spring is provided in the above embodiment, so that the circuit board body 51 can be formed. Alternatively, the circuit board body 51 formed by the metal layer 512 and the dielectric layer 511 may be wound on the elastic carrier 52 to form the flexible circuit board 50. Therefore, the present application is not particularly limited thereto.

In summary, the above flexible circuit boards 50 according to the embodiments of the present application all use materials with better elastic properties as the elastic carrier 52. Then, the circuit board body 51 which is bent and extended and the circuit board body 51 which is provided with the through groove 51a are adhered and fixed on the bearing plane 52a of the elastic bearing piece 52; alternatively, the circuit board body 51 is wound around and fixed to the elastic carrier 52 of the columnar structure in the winding direction.

On the one hand, the stretching performance of the circuit board body 51 is improved by the extending manner of the circuit board body 51, that is, when the circuit board body 51 is stretched along one direction (for example, the first direction), the structural form or shape of the circuit board body 51 can only be changed, and the circuit board body 51 does not bear a larger stretching force, so that the risk of breaking and damaging the circuit board body 51 is reduced.

On the other hand, the circuit board body 51 is fixed on the elastic bearing member 52, and the circuit board body 51 can be driven to stretch and reset by the elastic performance of the elastic bearing member 52. Therefore, when the watchband 30 of the wearable device 01 is not in the stretching scene, the circuit board body 51 can be ensured to be reset, that is, the circuit board body 51 is not in the stretching state, so that more effective protection is formed on the circuit board body 51, and the risk of damaging the circuit board body 51 is further reduced.

Therefore, when the flexible circuit board 50 provided by the embodiment of the application is applied to the watchband 30 of the wearable device 01, the reliability of the electrical connection between the functional module 40 and the main board 20 is improved, and the risk of failure of the functional module 40 in the use process of a user can be effectively reduced, so that the user experience is improved.

In the description of the present specification, a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A flexible circuit board, comprising:

the circuit board comprises a circuit board body, a functional module and a control module, wherein the circuit board body is provided with a first end and a second end, the first end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with the functional module, and the second end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with a main board of the electronic equipment;

The elastic bearing piece is provided with a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the bearing plane;

the circuit board body is bent and extended on the bearing plane.

2. The flexible circuit board of claim 1 wherein the circuit board body forms a wave-like structure on the load plane in a direction from the first end toward the second end.

3. The flexible circuit board according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the surface of the elastic carrier is the bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the surface of the elastic carrier.

4. A flexible circuit board according to claim 3, wherein the circuit board body comprises:

a dielectric layer;

the metal layers are laminated on the surfaces of two sides of the dielectric layer;

and the surface, far away from the dielectric layer, of the metal layer is covered with the protective layer.

5. The flexible circuit board of claim 4 wherein the circuit board body further comprises a shielding layer, the surface of the protective layer remote from the metal layer being covered with the shielding layer.

6. The flexible circuit board of claim 1 or 2, wherein the circuit board body is embedded inside the elastic carrier, and a plane where the elastic carrier is attached to the circuit board body inside forms the carrying plane.

7. The flexible circuit board of claim 6, wherein the circuit board body comprises:

a dielectric layer;

and the metal layers are laminated on the surfaces of two sides of the dielectric layer.

8. The flexible circuit board according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the material of the elastic carrier comprises PDMS material, ecoflex material, PTFE material, SEBS material, biodegradable plastic or hydrogel.

9. A flexible circuit board, comprising:

the circuit board comprises a circuit board body, a first connecting piece and a second connecting piece, wherein the circuit board body is provided with a first end and a second end, the first end of the circuit board body is used for being electrically connected with the functional module, and the second end of the circuit board is used for being electrically connected with a main board of the electronic equipment; the circuit board body is provided with a plurality of through grooves which are distributed at intervals;

the elastic bearing piece is provided with a bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached to and fixed on the bearing plane.

10. The flexible circuit board of claim 9, wherein a plurality of groups of through slots are formed in the circuit board body, each group of through slots including at least one through slot, the plurality of groups of through slots being distributed along a direction in which the first end of the circuit board body points to the second end.

11. The flexible circuit board of claim 10 wherein the plurality of sets of through slots comprises a plurality of sets of first through slots and a plurality of sets of second through slots, each set of first through slots comprising at least one first through slot, each set of second through slots comprising at least one second through slot; the plurality of groups of first through grooves and the plurality of groups of second through grooves are sequentially and alternately distributed along the direction that the first end of the circuit board body points to the second end;

the second through groove extends along a direction parallel to the bearing plane and perpendicular to the direction of the first end of the circuit board body to the second end, penetrates through the side wall of the circuit board body, and one second through groove penetrates through only one side wall of the circuit board body.

12. The flexible circuit board according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein a direction in which the first end of the circuit board body points to the second end is a first direction;

The width of the through groove along the first direction is a first width, the width of the through groove along the direction parallel to the bearing plane and perpendicular to the first direction is a second width, and the first width is smaller than the second width.

13. The flexible circuit board of any of claims 9-12, wherein the surface of the resilient carrier is the bearing plane, and the circuit board body is attached and fixed to the surface of the resilient carrier.

14. The flexible circuit board of claim 13, wherein the circuit board body comprises:

a dielectric layer;

15. The flexible circuit board of claim 14 wherein the circuit board body further comprises a shielding layer, the surface of the protective layer remote from the metal layer being covered with the shielding layer.

16. The flexible circuit board of any of claims 9-12, wherein the circuit board body is embedded within the elastomeric carrier, and wherein a plane within the elastomeric carrier that conforms to the circuit board body forms the load bearing plane.

17. The flexible circuit board of claim 16, wherein the circuit board body comprises:

a dielectric layer;

18. The flexible circuit board according to any one of claims 9 to 17, wherein the material of the elastic carrier comprises PDMS material, ecoflex material, PTFE material, SEBS material, biodegradable plastic or hydrogel.

19. A flexible circuit board, comprising:

the direction that the first end points to the second end is the length direction of the elastic bearing piece, the circuit board body is wound on the elastic bearing piece and extends along the length direction of the elastic bearing piece, and the circuit board body is fixedly connected with the elastic bearing piece.

20. The flexible circuit board of claim 19, wherein the circuit board body is attached and secured to a surface of the resilient carrier.

21. The flexible circuit board according to claim 20, wherein the surface of the elastic bearing member is provided with a receiving groove, the extending direction of the receiving groove is the same as the extending direction of the circuit board body, and the circuit board body is disposed in the receiving groove.

22. The flexible circuit board of claim 19, wherein the circuit board body is embedded within the elastomeric carrier.

23. The flexible circuit board of any of claims 19-22, wherein the resilient carrier has a cross-section perpendicular to the length direction that is circular, regular polygonal, or elliptical.

24. The flexible circuit board of claim 23, wherein the resilient carrier is circular in cross-section perpendicular to the length direction.

25. A wristband for a wearable device, comprising:

a watchband body;

the functional module is arranged on the watchband body;

the flexible circuit board is the flexible circuit board of any one of claims 1-24, the flexible circuit board is embedded in the watchband body, and the circuit board body of the flexible circuit board is electrically connected with the functional module.

26. The wristband of claim 25, wherein the functional module comprises a sensor, a display module, a camera module, a solar charging module, or a pulsing module.

27. A wearable device, comprising:

a dial;

the main board is arranged in the dial plate;

a watchband as recited in claim 26, wherein said watchband is connected to said dial and said flexible circuit board is electrically connected to said motherboard.