JPH11261186A - Module substrate and module substrate mounting structure using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To constitute a module substrate without the need for hands, cost, and time, even if the specification of application is changed. SOLUTION: A module substrate has a structure that has mechanical connection portions 3 with projections and depressions at the end 2 of the substrate and has contacts 4 at the mechanical connection portions 3. Other module substrate has the same mechanical connection portions, and the mechanical connection portions 3 can be combined with each other like jigsaw puzzle to connect the contacts 4 of plural module substrates with each other. By this structure the module substrates can be placed planarly as well as three dimensionally, and the module substrates can be placed as though the internal space of equipment in which the module substrates are built is small, and the space can be effectively used because of the high degrees of flexibility in placement.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a module board and a module board mounting structure using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art On a module substrate 20 shown in FIG. 8A, a plurality of components such as an IC, a resistor and a capacitor are arranged at predetermined positions, respectively, and are mutually connected by a wiring pattern (not shown). I have. Although details are omitted in the manufacturing process of such a module substrate 20, after a wiring pattern is formed on a substrate that becomes a module substrate with an exposure mask used for forming a wiring pattern in a normal semiconductor manufacturing process,
Each component is soldered and mounted to manufacture a module substrate. The arrangement of each component of the module board 20 in FIG. 8A may need to be changed as in the module board 21 shown in FIG.

[0003]

In such a modification, conventionally, the module board 20 of FIG. 8A cannot be used as it is to form the module board 21 of FIG. 8B. Therefore, a wiring pattern is designed from the beginning on a new board. In order to change and form it, it is necessary to design and manufacture an exposure mask, and also, a forming operation of forming a wiring pattern again using the mask is required, and further, a component is formed on the wiring pattern. An operation for soldering is required. In this case, it is required to newly design and manufacture a module substrate every time the specification is changed, so that much time, cost and time are required for each change in the specification.

[0004]

According to the present invention, an uneven mechanical connection portion which can be connected to an uneven mechanical connection portion of one or more other module substrates is provided at one or a plurality of substrate ends. A structure that can solve the above-mentioned problem by having a structure in which each has a contact point in the mechanical connection portion, so that even if there is a specification change, it can be dealt with without a new design change of the module substrate. And

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a module substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, this module substrate 1 has a rectangular shape when viewed from a plane, and has four substrate ends 2. It has. Each of the substrate ends 2 is configured as a mechanical connection portion 3 having an uneven shape.
A contact 4 is provided on each of the protrusions 3a of each of the mechanical connection portions 3. The contact 4 is not provided in the concave portion 3b of the mechanical connection portion 3. The contacts 4 are simultaneously formed when a wiring pattern for mounting a plurality of components mounted thereon is formed using a mask. Therefore, this contact can also be called a wiring pattern. The contacts 4 are provided in a pair on the convex portion 3a of one mechanical connecting portion 3, but are not necessarily in a pair, and may be one or three or more. May be arbitrary, and the present embodiment is merely shown as an example.

As described above, components such as ICs and resistors are provided on each module substrate 1 having the uneven mechanical connection portion 3 at the substrate end portion 2 for each function such as a sensor, a memory, and a processing portion, for example, as shown in FIG. Or, as shown in FIG. Here, assuming that the module substrate of FIG. 2A is a first module substrate 1A and the module substrate of FIG. 2B is a second module substrate 1B, these module substrates 1A and 1B are connected to respective mechanical connection portions as shown in FIG. 3 (connected like a jigsaw puzzle). The mechanical connecting portions 3 are connected to each other and are mechanically connected by being in contact with each other, and the respective contacts 4 are electrically connected to each other. It is preferable to connect with a brazing agent such as soldering or mechanical caulking.

Conventionally, all parts are mounted on one board as shown in FIG. 8A to form a module board. Therefore, when the positions of the parts are changed as shown in FIG. The module substrate 8a is discarded, and it is necessary to newly manufacture the module substrate of FIG. 8b. However, in the present embodiment, the combination positions of the module substrates 1A and 1B of FIGS. It can be dealt with only by changing the connection position in the mechanical connection unit 3, and it is not necessary to change the mask or change the wiring pattern, which has been conventionally required, and it is possible to reduce labor, cost, and time. Become.

In the case of the module board 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, two module boards 1C and 1D are three-dimensionally arranged as shown in FIG. I do not care.

[0010] In the module substrate 1 of the present embodiment, components may be mounted not only on the front surface but also on the back surface. In such a case, a large number of components can be mounted with higher density even on a small module substrate, which is convenient.

In the module substrate 1 according to the present embodiment, when they are combined as shown in FIG. 3, the strength is low. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the mechanical strength may be increased even if a two-layer structure in which another substrate 5 (lower substrate) is provided on the lower side. A wiring pattern 6 may be formed on the lower substrate 5 as shown in FIG. 5, and the wiring pattern 6 of the lower substrate 5 may be combined with a wiring pattern (not shown) of the module substrate 1 which is the upper substrate. You may connect. In such a case, not only the improvement of the mechanical strength but also the connection between the components of the module substrate 1 and the respective components of the lower substrate 5 can be facilitated using the wiring pattern 6 of the lower substrate 5. It is also possible to mount components on the lower substrate 5.

In the module board 1 of the present embodiment, the mechanical connection portion 3 having an uneven shape is provided at the board end 2, but in the module board 7 of FIG. A male connector 9 is provided at each of the left and right board ends, and a male connector 11 is provided at each of the upper and lower board ends, and a female connector 12 is provided at each of the left and right board ends in the module board 10 of FIG. 6B. The connection may be made as shown in FIG. 7 by using a connector as a mechanical connection, and using a connector as each mechanical connection.
In such a case, the mechanical strength also increases.

Although the module substrate of the present embodiment has a rectangular shape when viewed from a plane, it is not necessarily a rectangular shape because it is not a rectangular shape but can be combined like a jigsaw puzzle. For example, a polygonal shape such as a triangular shape or a hexagonal shape may be used, and the above-described mechanical connection portion may be formed at each substrate end.

In the module board of the present embodiment, the contact 4 is provided on the convex portion 3a of the mechanical connecting portion 3, but may be provided on the concave portion 3b.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, one or a plurality of substrate ends are provided with an uneven mechanical connection portion that can be connected to the uneven mechanical connection portion of one or more other module substrates. Each of the components has a structure in which the mechanical connection portion is provided with a contact, so that even if there is a specification change, it can be dealt with without newly changing the design of the module substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, in the case where each function is configured, if replacement is required for maintenance or the like, the replacement can be performed very easily. In this case, if configured for each function, the module board for sensor, the module board for memory, and the module board for processing can be used. When these are combined like a jigsaw puzzle, the combination position can be freely set, so that the size is small. It is convenient to incorporate these module substrates into electronic devices and the like.

Further, according to the present invention, since it can be arranged not only two-dimensionally but also three-dimensionally, it can be arranged even in a device incorporating the same even if the internal space is narrow, and the degree of freedom of the arrangement is high. The space can be used more effectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a module substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a plan view of the module board of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 2A is a plan view of one module board and FIG. 2B is a plan view of another module board;

3A and 3B are diagrams showing a state where respective module substrates are combined in a plane.

4 (a) and 2 (b) show a state where the respective module substrates are three-dimensionally combined, (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a side view

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a module substrate according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a module substrate according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state where the module substrates of FIG. 6 are combined in a plane.

FIG. 8 shows a conventional module substrate, wherein (a) is a plan view of the module substrate in an application,
(B) Plan view of module board in application specification change

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Module board 2 Board end part 3 Mechanical connection part 3a Convex part of mechanical connection part 3b Concave part of mechanical connection part 4 Contact

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Koichi Furusawa O-Muron Co., Ltd. (10) Hanazono Todocho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture (72) Koji Yamaguchi O-Muron, 10 Hanazono Todocho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture Inside (72) Inventor Fumihiko Umeda Within Omron, Inc. 10 at Hanazono Todo-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture (72) Insider Inventor Taku Masai Within 10, Omron, Hanazono, Dodo-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto

Claims (3)

[Claims] An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the one or more substrate ends has a concave / convex mechanical connection portion that can be connected to the concave / convex mechanical connection portion of one or more other module substrates. A module substrate comprising a contact point. 2. The module board according to claim 1, wherein one or a plurality of components are mounted in a form of a module for each function. 3. A module board comprising a plurality of the module boards according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the module boards can be arranged in a three-dimensional manner by using the mechanical connection parts of each other. Mounting structure.