JPH05130694A - Method for connecting multicore cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a multicore cable connecting method capable of simply connecting electrode pads in an arrayed oscillator group or the like to plural cables without using an FPC, compacting an ultrasonic probe or the like and improving production yield. CONSTITUTION:In the multicore cable connecting method for connecting multicables to the connecting electrode pads 13 in the ultrasonic probe array oscillator group 11, a connector 20 forming grooves 21 22 for inserting-the cables 30 at an interval corresponding to the array interval of the pads 13 and forming a through hole on a part of each groove 21 is used, respective cables 30 are inserted into respective grooves 21, 22, the through holes 22 of the connector 20 are opposed to the pads 13 and the conductor part 31 of each cable 30 is connected to the pad 13 by means of a conductive material through the through hole 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multicore cable connecting method, and more particularly to a multicore cable connecting method for connecting a large number of cables to an array transducer of an ultrasonic probe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic scanning type ultrasonic probe of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has a structure in which a plurality of transducers are arranged, and the number thereof is several hundreds. This ultrasonic probe is small in size because the doctor holds it in his / her hand and brings it into contact with the diagnosis site of the subject for inspection.
It should be lightweight and most of the drive processing circuits should be placed in the diagnostic device itself.
The probe and body are connected via a flexible cable.

Some in-body-cavity inspection devices have a structure in which a probe is arranged at the tip of a flexible pipe, and these array transducer groups are connected to the diagnostic device main body through a cable in the pipe. .. Since each vibrator is independently selected and driven, each vibrator is connected to the main body using a coaxial cable. Therefore, the same number of coaxial cables as the number of arrayed transducers are required, and the number thereof may exceed several hundreds.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic structure of a conventional ultrasonic probe. The array vibrator group 3 is formed by fixing a rectangular piezoelectric vibrating plate to a fixing member 4 called a backing material and finely dividing it by a cutting device. The width W of each transducer of the divided array transducer group 3 is about several 100 μm, but 100 μm
There are also the following: Electrodes are provided on both sides of each vibrator, and cables are connected to these electrodes.

Since it is difficult to directly connect the cable to the vibrator, the connection is generally made via the flexible printed circuit (FPC) 7. Here, this connection method will be briefly described.

First, the conductor pattern 8 is divided and formed at the end of the rectangular piezoelectric vibrating plate according to the pitch of the arrayed vibrator.
The conductor portion of the FPC 7 having the is connected by soldering or the like. After fixing the piezoelectric vibrating plate to the backing material, the piezoelectric vibrating plate is cut in accordance with the conductor pitch of the FPC 7 to form the array transducer group 3. The electrode on one side of each divided oscillator is FP
The conductor pattern 8 is electrically connected to the conductor pattern 8 of C7, and the conductor pattern 8 is extended to the connection pad 9 to which the cable on the FPC 7 can be soldered.

Then, by soldering each cable 2 of the multi-core cable 10 to the connection pad 9, conduction between each vibrator and the cable 2 is achieved. Although not shown in FIG. 7, a copper plate or the like is soldered to the other electrode of each vibrator so as to be commonly connected, and the shield side of the coaxial cable is connected to this copper plate.

As is clear from FIG. 7, such a conventional connecting method requires a large area for connecting the FPC and the cable, and as a result, the case for enclosing the array transducer group becomes large. The need for a large volume of connection area is a serious problem when the volume is limited, such as an intracavity ultrasonic probe, and the smallest possible one is desired.

Further, the number of arrayed transducers of the ultrasonic probe is large, and the width of the transducers tends to be small. As the number of transducers increases, the number of cables also increases, and the multi-core cable that bundles them becomes thicker and heavier, and the operability of the probe deteriorates. For this reason, it is desirable to make the cable thin, and it is possible to actually make such a cable. However, when the cable becomes thin, it becomes difficult to peel off the insulating coating material to expose the conductor wire inside, and the soldering work also becomes difficult. Furthermore, if the width of the vibrator is 100 μm or less, it becomes difficult to make an FPC corresponding to it, and
A new connection method that does not use a PC is required.

[0010]

As described above, in the method of soldering the array transducer group of the array type ultrasonic probe and a large number of cables corresponding to the number of the transducers by soldering through the FPC, The volume of the soldering part increases,
The probe becomes large as a whole. In particular, in the case where the size of the probe is limited as in the body cavity probe and further miniaturization is required, how to reduce the connection area has been an important issue. Also, the width of the vibrator is 100μ
If it is less than m, it becomes difficult to manufacture an FPC corresponding to it, and the yield of the probe is significantly reduced.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to easily connect a connecting electrode pad such as an array transducer group and a plurality of cables without using an FPC. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for connecting a multi-core cable that can contribute to downsizing of an ultrasonic probe or the like and improvement of manufacturing yield.

[0012]

The gist of the present invention is to use a connector having a groove corresponding to the arrangement interval of the connection electrode pads when connecting a multi-core cable to the connection electrode pads arranged at a predetermined interval. Especially.

That is, according to the present invention, in a multicore cable connecting method for connecting a multicore cable to a plurality of connection electrode pads, grooves for inserting the cables are formed at intervals corresponding to the arrangement intervals of the connection electrode pads. Using connector member,
After the cable is inserted into each groove of the connector member, the conductor portion of the cable and the connection electrode pad are opposed to each other, and these are connected by a conductive substance.
In addition, the following method can be adopted when connecting the conductor portion of the cable and the connection electrode pad.

(1) A through hole is formed in a part of each groove of the connector member, and the cable is inserted into each groove of the connector member. Then, the through hole and the connection electrode pad are aligned, and the cable The conductor portion and the connection electrode pad are connected by a conductive material through the through hole. (2) Connect the conductor part of the cable directly to the connection electrode pad.

(3) After processing so that the cross section of the multi-core cable tip portion is perpendicular to the cable and each cross section is arranged in the same plane, the cable tip portion is joined to the connection electrode pad for connection. To take.

(4) After processing so that the cross-section of the end portion of the multi-core cable is perpendicular to the cable and each cross-section is arranged in the same plane, a plurality of connector members in which this cable is arranged are further formed. The cables are laminated so that the connection cross-sections of the cables are arranged in the same plane, and the tip portions of the respective cables are joined to the connection electrode pads for connection.

[0017]

According to the present invention, by using the connector member to match the arrangement interval of the cables with the arrangement interval of the connection electrode pads, it becomes possible to cope with a narrow pitch conductor pattern which is impossible with the conventional FPC connection. Moreover, since no FPC is required, it is possible to further reduce the size. Furthermore, since an ultrafine cable, which has been difficult to solder conventionally, can be used, the operability of the probe can be improved.

[0018]

The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a multi-core cable is connected to an ultrasonic probe for explaining the method of the first embodiment of the present invention. 2A is a top view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 2A.

The array vibrator group 11 is formed by bonding and fixing a rectangular piezoelectric vibrating plate to the backing material 12, and then dividing and cutting the piezoelectric vibrating plate at a predetermined pitch. Connector 2
In 0, grooves 21 and 22 corresponding to the shape of the cable 30 are formed at the same intervals as the array interval of the array transducer group 11. Here, the groove 21 has a size into which only the inner conductor 31 of the cable 30 can be inserted, and the groove 22 has a size into which the covering member 32 of the cable 30 can also be inserted. The through hole 23 is provided in a portion of the cable 30 where the inner conductor 31 is installed.
Are formed for each groove 21. Lands are formed on both surfaces of each through hole 23, and the inside of the through hole 23 is also covered with a conductor so that the lands on both surfaces are electrically connected.

First, the covering member 32 of the cable 30 corresponding to the number of vibrators of the arrayed vibrator group 11 is peeled off to remove the conductor portion 31.
Exposed and disposed in the connector 20. Next, a metal film such as solder is deposited on the exposed portion of the inner conductor 31 of the cable 30 by electrolytic plating or the like, and at the same time the through hole 2
3 Conduct electrical connection with the conductor coating inside. At this time, a metal film is also deposited on the through-hole land portion on the side opposite to the cable side to form bump-shaped electrode pads.

On the other hand, solder is applied in advance to the side surface electrodes of the array vibrator group 3 (solder precoating).
Then, the pre-coated side surface electrode 13 and the electrode pad are aligned with each other, and they are thermocompression-bonded to each other to establish electrical continuity, whereby the array transducer group 11 and the cable 30 are arranged.
The connection with is completed.

As described above, according to the method of this embodiment, the connector 20 having the grooves 21 and 22 corresponding to the array pitch of the array transducer group 11 is used, and each cable 30 of the multi-core cable is inserted into the connector 20. Then, the connector 20 is simply heat-pressed onto the side surface of the array transducer group 11, and the cable 30
And the array transducer group 11 can be connected. And in this case, unlike the method of soldering via FPC,
Since the volume of the cable connecting portion is small, the ultrasonic probe and the like can be downsized and the manufacturing yield can be improved.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are for explaining the method of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a top view and FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along the line BB 'of FIG. Similarly to the first embodiment, the arrayed vibrator group 11 includes a rectangular piezoelectric vibrating plate as a backing material 12.
It is bonded and fixed to and then divided and cut at a predetermined pitch. As shown in the figure, the connector 20 has grooves corresponding to the shape of the cable 30 at the same intervals as the array interval of the array transducer group 11. A through hole 23 similar to that of the first embodiment is formed in each groove 21 in a portion of the cable 30 where the inner conductor 31 is installed. This is useful when connecting by adding an IC or the like.

In this embodiment, the covering member 32 of the cable 30 corresponding to the number of the array transducer groups 11 is stripped off and the conductor portion 3 is removed.
1 is exposed and disposed on the connector 20. Then, a metal film such as solder is deposited on the exposed portion of the internal conductor 31 of the cable 30 by electrolytic plating or the like, and bump-shaped electrode pads 33 are formed on the surface opposite to the through hole. As in the previous embodiment, solder is applied to the side surface electrode portions of the array transducer group 11 in advance (solder precoating). Then, the pre-coated side surface electrode 13 and the electrode pad 33 are aligned with each other, and thermocompression-bonded to each other to establish continuity, thereby completing the connection.

FIG. 4 is for explaining the method of the fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a sectional view immediately below the vibrator,
(B) is a side sectional view. In addition, (a) is C- of (b)
It corresponds to a view in the direction of the arrow C '.

Similar to the previous embodiment, first, the array transducer group 1
A rectangular piezoelectric vibration plate is bonded and fixed to the backing material 12 in order to form 1. At this time, the piezoelectric vibrating plate is displaced from the backing material 12 by an amount corresponding to the inside of the connector and bonded, or the end surfaces are aligned and bonded, and then the backing material 12 is bonded.
Corresponding to the connector is removed, and the electrode portion 13 is exposed at a part of the lower portion of the diaphragm. After that, the piezoelectric diaphragm is divided and cut at a predetermined pitch. Similar to the previous embodiment, the connector 20 has grooves 21 and 22 corresponding to the shape of the cable 30 at the same spacing as the array spacing of the array transducer group 11.

Next, the covering member 32 of the cable 30 corresponding to the number of transducers of the arrayed transducer group 11 is peeled off to expose the conductor portion 31, and the conductor portion 31 is disposed on the connector 20. Processing such as cutting is performed so as to be parallel to. Then, the cable 30 is formed by electrolytic plating or the like.
A metal film such as solder is deposited on the tip of the internal conductor 31 to form an electrode pad. Solder is applied to the exposed electrode portion below the array transducer group 11 in advance (solder precoating). Then, the electrode pad and the pre-coated side surface electrode 13 are aligned with each other, and thermocompression-bonded to establish electrical continuity, thereby completing the connection.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, if the adhesive strength between the cable 30 and the array transducer group 11 after connection is insufficient, it can be reinforced by a resin mold or the like if necessary. Further, although the embodiments up to this point relate to the connection of the multi-core cable to the one-dimensional array, the connector structure of the present invention can be easily applied to the two-dimensional array.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the method of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a top view of a cable assembly in which a connector structure is applied to a two-dimensional array, and (b) is a side section thereof. It is a figure.

Similar to the previous embodiment, the connector 20 has the cable 30 at the same interval as the array interval of the target array pad.
Has a groove corresponding to the shape of. In this embodiment, the covering member 32 of the cable 30 corresponding to the number of transducers of the array transducer group 11 is stripped off to expose the conductor portion 31. Then, the cable 30 is arranged in the groove in the connector 20, and a process such as cutting is performed so that the tip end portion of the conductor portion 31 becomes parallel to the connector upper end surface.

Next, this one-dimensionally arranged connector 20
To have a laminated structure. Further, a metal film such as solder is deposited on the tip portion of the inner conductor 31 of the cable 30 by electrolytic plating or the like to form a pad array in which electrode pads corresponding to the number of cables are arranged in the same plane at predetermined intervals. .. Then, the pad array is aligned with the side electrodes 13 on the lower side surface of the array transducer group 11,
Array transducer group 11 and cable 3 by thermocompression bonding
The connection with 0 is completed.

The connector 20 used in this embodiment is also provided with the through hole 21 because it is useful when connecting between the cables as required. If unnecessary, it may be filled with an insulating material. This array can be used for connection of a two-dimensional array in an ultrasonic probe, and generally for connection of a pin grid array, etc., and mounting efficiency can be improved for high-density connection.

Next, a method of manufacturing the connector 20 used in each of the above-described embodiments will be described. FIG. 6 shows a manufacturing process diagram using anisotropic etching of Si as an example of a method of manufacturing the connector 20. Note that (a) and (b) are perspective views, (c) is a partially cutaway perspective view taken along the line XX ′ in (b), and (d) and (e) are cross-sectional views.

First, FIG. 6B is formed on the (110) plane of the Si wafer 61 having the crystal orientation shown in FIG. 6A.
A mask material 62 is formed as shown in (4), and the pattern corresponding to the array interval of the array vibrator and the through-hole shape is removed by etching. That is, the mask 62 corresponding to the groove 22.
A mask 62a corresponding to a and the groove 21 is formed. Next, anisotropic etching is performed using a KOH solution, a mixed solution of ethylenediamine and pyrocatechol, etc., as shown in FIGS. In such a crystal orientation, anisotropic etching proceeds so that the {111} plane appears parallel to the <110> direction. As a result, openings corresponding to the grooves 21 and 22 are formed.

Then, after etching is completed, a mask 62 is formed.
A and 62b are removed, and the whole is covered with an insulating layer 63 as shown in FIG. Finally, by cutting into a predetermined size and further forming the through hole 23,
The connector 20 having the shape shown in FIG. 1 is completed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The connector member is not limited to Si, and its manufacturing method is not limited to anisotropic etching, and similar effects can be obtained by other materials and manufacturing methods. Further, the element for connecting the multi-core cable is not limited to the array transducer group, and any element may be used as long as the connection electrode pads are formed in a predetermined array. In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0038]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it becomes possible to cope with a narrow pitch conductor pattern which is impossible with the conventional FPC connection, and the FPC is not required, so that the size is further reduced. Can be realized. Furthermore, because it is possible to use ultrafine cables that were difficult to solder in the past,
The operability of the probe is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view for explaining a method according to a first embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a top view and a cross-sectional view of a connector, an array transducer group, etc. used in the first embodiment,

FIG. 3 is a top view and a cross-sectional view of a connector, an array transducer group, etc. used in the second embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a top view and a cross-sectional view of a connector, an array transducer group, etc. used in the third embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a top view and a cross-sectional view of a connector, an array transducer group, etc. used in the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process of a connector using anisotropic etching of Si,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional array type ultrasonic probe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Array vibrator, 12 ... Backing material, 13 ... Electrode, 20 ... Connector, 21, 22 ... Groove, 23 ... Through hole, 30 ... Cable, 31 ... Cable inner conductor, 32 ... Coating member, 61 ... Si substrate, 62a, 62b ... Mask, 63 ... Insulating layer.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method of connecting a multi-core cable for connecting a multi-core cable to a plurality of connection electrode pads, wherein a connector member having grooves for inserting cables at intervals corresponding to the arrangement interval of the connection electrode pads is formed. After inserting the cable into each groove of the connector member,
A method for connecting a multi-core cable, characterized in that a conductor portion of a cable and a connection electrode pad are opposed to each other and the conductor portion and the pad are connected by a conductive substance. 2. A method of connecting a multi-core cable for connecting a multi-core cable to a plurality of connection electrode pads, wherein grooves for inserting cables are formed at intervals corresponding to the arrangement intervals of the connection electrode pads, and Using a connector member in which a through hole is formed in a part of each groove, and after arranging the cables in each groove of the connector member, the through hole of the connector member and the connection electrode pad are opposed to each other,
A method of connecting a multi-core cable, characterized in that a conductor portion of the cable and a connection electrode pad are connected by a conductive material through a through hole.