JP2819379B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image device such as an LED head, an image sensor, an EL head, a plasma head, and a thermal head, and more particularly to a connector for connecting a head to an external device such as a printer body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image apparatus, a connector is used for connection with a printer body or the like. However, it is not easy to fix the connector to the board of a small image device. If the mounting of the connector is to be facilitated, the area of the substrate increases, which causes an increase in the size of the image device. On the other hand, in order to avoid an increase in the board area, it is necessary to use a dedicated small connector, and a mold is required for the dedicated connector. In addition, it is difficult to solder the connector to a narrow board, and the surrounding board wiring and bonding wires may be broken or the board may be overheated.

[0003] Apart from this, the inventors have proposed connecting the substrate of the image element array and the substrate of the drive circuit with clip terminals (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-121870). This is to easily connect and fix the two substrates, and to obtain a reliable connection, and is characterized in that a flexible printed circuit board is not used for connection between the substrates. However, JP-A-5
The point of focus in -121,870 is limited to how easy and reliable the two substrates can be connected and fixed, and no attention has been paid to the problem of the connector.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method for a connector without using a dedicated connector, without causing a connector mounting step, and without increasing a board area for mounting the connector. The purpose is to be able to attach and use the device. Another object of the present invention is to securely protect an image element array with two circuit boards, simplify the bonding between the image element array and the circuit board, and
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to reliably connect two circuit boards with clip terminals.

[0005]

In the image apparatus according to the present invention, at least two circuit boards are overlapped so as to interpose an image element array, and each of the circuit boards is connected to the image element array. The circuit boards are connected by a clip terminal, and one end of the clip terminal is projected outward to form a connector for external connection. Preferably, the clip terminal is composed of a plurality of terminals, and the two terminals at both ends are wider than the other terminals to serve as a connector guide. More preferably, the connector is provided at a longitudinal end of the circuit board.

In this way, the clip terminal itself becomes a connector, and it is not necessary to use a dedicated connector.
Further, since the attachment of the connector means the attachment of the clip terminal, a board area for attaching the connector is not required, and the step of attaching the connector to the board is also eliminated. In addition, since the image element array is interposed between two circuit boards and both sides thereof are connected to the two circuit boards, a large number of electrodes of the image element array can be bonded at once, and the work for bonding one electrode at a time is performed. It is not necessary to perform wire bonding with low property. In addition, the image element array is protected by being sandwiched between two circuit boards, and is not destroyed when a clip terminal is connected. The two circuit boards connected to the front and back of the image element array are connected to each other by clip terminals. In general, a connector needs a guide, but if the clip terminal itself is also used as a guide, the connector can be composed of only the clip terminal literally. For that purpose, the clip terminals at both ends may be made wider than others to increase the strength and serve as a guide. If the connector is provided at a position facing the photoreceptor drum, etc., the connector may be obstructed if the drum is small in diameter, or if a charger or developing device is closely arranged around the drum to reduce the size of a printer or the like. become. Therefore, preferably, a connector is provided at the end of the substrate so that the connector does not obstruct the drum, the peripheral charger, the developing device, and the like.

[0007] In the embodiment, LED is used as two circuit boards.
LED using the individual electrode substrate of the head and the common electrode substrate
Although an arrangement in which two substrates are arranged so as to sandwich an array is shown, the image element array is not limited to an LED array.

[0008]

1 to 4 show an embodiment. First, the basic configuration of the image apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, and the clip terminal and the connector will be described later with reference to FIGS.
In the embodiment, the LED head is used as an example, but other image devices may be used, and well-known parts such as a lens array and a housing are omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes an individual electrode substrate using a hard printed board or the like, reference numeral 4 denotes a first main surface thereof, and reference numeral 6 denotes a second main surface thereof. 8 is a through hole, and LED arrays L1 to L
It is provided at a position corresponding to 40 light emitters. The LED arrays L1 to L40 each have a total of 2560 dots of 64 dots. 10 is an individual electrode wiring, 12 is an individual electrode wiring 1
0 is a bump row provided on the side of the through hole 8. Individual electrode wiring 1
0 is provided above and below the through hole 8 in 20 sets each, and a total of 40 sets are provided. The number of bumps per individual electrode wiring 10 is 64, and the number of bumps per bump row 12 is 32. The individual electrode wirings 10 are provided in units of two LED arrays L1 to L40, and are folded at the center to flip-chip connect the electrodes of the LED arrays L1 to L40 to the bump rows 12, 12. One LED array has 64 electrodes, 32 of which are arranged in the lower bump row 1 in the figure.
2 are flip-chip connected, and the remaining 32 are flip-chip connected to the upper bump row 12.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a back wiring provided on the second main surface 6,
Thirty-two signal lines are arranged above and below the through hole 8, respectively. Reference numeral 16 denotes a row of through holes for connecting the back wiring 14 and the individual electrode wiring 10. Since a large area is required for the through holes, the through holes protrude from the individual electrode wirings 10 when they are arranged in one row. Therefore, through-hole row 16
Are arranged in two rows and are arranged obliquely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the substrate 2.
6 can be provided.

Reference numeral 18 denotes an individual electrode driving IC for driving the individual electrodes of the LED arrays L1 to L40. Since the chip height is different from that of the LED arrays L1 to L40 and the terminal arrangement pitch is small, the LED array L1 To L40 on the main surface 6 on the opposite side. 54 is a connector to be described later.
8 is a connection clip terminal, and 60 is a guide clip terminal.

FIG. 2 shows the image device after flip-chip connection. 30 is a common electrode substrate such as a rigid printed circuit board,
2 is the first main surface, and 34 is the second main surface. 4
Reference numeral 2 denotes a common electrode driving IC, which is an LED array L1 to L40.
Is disposed on the second main surface 34 on the opposite side from the first main surface 34. Reference numerals 50 and 52 denote spacers which prevent the substrates 2 and 30 from tilting and keep them parallel. As shown in FIG. 6, the common electrode substrate 30 is provided with a common electrode wiring 36 on the first main surface 2, a back surface wiring 38 on the second main surface 4, and connected through a through hole 40.

The LED arrays L1 to L40 are sandwiched between two substrates 2 and 30, and light is extracted from the through holes 8 in FIG. Before flip-chip connection, individual electrode drive IC1
8 is connected to the back wiring 14, and the common electrode driving IC 42 is connected to the back wiring of the second main surface 34. LED array L1
L40 are connected to the common electrode wiring provided on the common electrode substrate 30 with a conductive adhesive.

The connector of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 54 denotes a clip terminal 5.
Reference numerals 58 and 60 denote connectors using connection clip terminals for actually connecting to the back wiring of the substrates 2 and 30,
Reference numeral 60 denotes a guide clip terminal of the connector 54, which is wider and stronger than the clip terminal 58. Here, the guide clip terminal 60 is a free terminal without being connected to the board wiring 62, but may be connected to, for example, the ground wiring of the boards 2 and 30. Reference numeral 62 denotes board wiring for connecting the clip terminal 58 to the boards 2 and 30, and ICs 18 and 42.
And 64 is a soldered portion to the board wiring.

To construct such a connector 54,
Clip terminals 58 and 6 longer by the length of connector 54
0, the clip terminal 60 is made wider and the connector 5
By providing the strength as a guide of No. 4, the tip of the clip terminal 60 may be made to protrude more than the tip of the clip terminal 58 so as to touch the receiving side first. Clip terminal 5
The connectors 8 and 60 require strength as a connector, and have a thickness of, for example, about 0.5 to 1 mm. Clip terminal 58,
60 is soldered to the substrates 2 and 30 by, for example, hot air heating, and after the soldering, the base tie bar is cut and each terminal 5
8, 60 are made independent. Connector 54 is clip terminal 5
When the connectors 8 and 60 are connected to the boards 2 and 30, they are formed automatically. There is no step of fixing or connecting the connectors, and the mounting area of the connectors to the boards 2 and 30 is not required.

The clip terminal 58 connects between the substrates 2 and 30, and at the same time, serves as a connector for connecting to the printer body or the like. Connection signals with the main body include, for example, power supply (5 V VDD and ground VSS), clock, data, latch, strobe, line synchronization, data transfer direction switching (in the case of the jagged individual electrode wiring 10 of the embodiment), and the like. Becomes These signals are connected to the substrates 2 and 30 via the clip terminals 58. In addition, if there is a signal exchanged only between the substrates 2 and 30, the connector 54 is provided with an unconnected clip terminal to connect the substrates 2 and 30.

In connection with the female connector 66 on the receiving side, the tip of the guide clip terminal 60 contacts the female connector 66 first, and the female connector 66 is guided by the clip terminal 60.
The connection with the clip terminal 58 is made.

Although the position of the connector 54 is arbitrary, FIG.
As shown in (1), the connector 54 is preferably provided at an end in the longitudinal direction of the boards 2 and 30, and it is particularly preferable that the direction of the connector 54 is directed outward in the longitudinal direction of the boards 2 and 30. This is because when a charger, a developing unit, a transfer unit, and the like are closely arranged around a small-diameter photosensitive drum to reduce the size of a printer or the like, there is no place for the connector 54 near the drum. In FIG. 2, a pair of connectors 54, 54 are provided at both ends of the substrates 2, 30, but the connector 54 may be provided only at one end.

Although the guide clip terminal 58 is used in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connector 56 shown in FIG.
The guide 68 may be provided separately. Also, in order to save the space for the connector in the printer body, etc.,
6, a connector 54 is provided on the second main surface 34 side of the common electrode substrate 30 as shown in FIG.
The connector 54 may be directed to the opposite side of the drum with the end of the drum facing. In FIG. 6, 36 is a common electrode wiring, 38 is a back wiring provided on the second main surface, 40 is a through hole, and 44 is a conductive adhesive such as silver paste.
In the position shown in FIG. 6, the connector 54 is located on the opposite side of the photosensitive drum. When the connector 54 is provided at this position, the connector 54 does not interfere with the developing device or the charger, and the connector 54 can be arranged without taking up space. .

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the clip terminal can be used also as the connector. Therefore, there is no need to provide a dedicated connector. In addition, since the connector is naturally attached by attaching the clip terminal, the step of defeating the connector is not required, and the mounting area of the connector is not required. Further, a large number of electrodes of the image element array can be connected at once, and wire bonding to a large number of electrodes is not required. The image element array can be protected by being sandwiched between two circuit boards, and the circuit boards can be connected to each other by clip terminals.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state of front and back of an individual wiring board of an image device of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of the image apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an attached state of a clip terminal also serving as a connector in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part showing a mounting state of a clip terminal in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting state of a clip terminal according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting state of a clip terminal in a modified example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Individual electrode wiring 4 First main surface 6 Second main surface 8 Through hole 10 Individual electrode wiring 12 Bump row 14 Back wiring 16 Through hole row 18 Individual electrode drive IC 30 Common electrode substrate 32 First main surface 34 First 2 main surface 36 common electrode wiring 38 back wiring 40 through hole 42 common electrode drive IC 44 conductive adhesive 50, 52 spacer 54, 56 clip terminal 58 connection clip terminal 60 guide clip terminal 62 board wiring 64 soldering part 66 Female connector 68 Guide

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 29/00 B41J 2/44 B41J 2/45 B41J 2/455 H01L 23/50 H05K 1/18

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] At least two circuit boards are overlapped so as to interpose an image element array, each of the circuit boards is connected to the image element array, and the circuit boards are connected by clip terminals. In addition, an image apparatus characterized in that one end side of the clip terminal is protruded outward to form a connector for external connection.