JPS63212299A - Ultrasonic wave probe and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To comparatively easily obtain an ultrasonic wave probe on which piezoelectric elements are arranged at intervals of fine pitches by drawing out the conductive line of a flexible cable alternately to the right and the left for every piezoelectric element along a direction orthogonally intersecting with the array direction of the piezoelectric element. CONSTITUTION:In the flexible cable 8, many conductive lines 10 are alternately horizontally drawn out and the right and the left conductive lines 10 are integrally connected by a frame formed connecting part 12. The conductive line 10 is connected to a signal electrode 4 formed on a piezoelectric base 20 and the piezoelectric base 20 is individually cut for every conductive line 10 to form the respective piezoelectric element 2. Thereafter, the flexible cable for an earth is connected to an earth electrode 6 to connect a matching layer 14 to a back layer 16 and remove the protruding part of the connecting part 12. Thereby, the pitch interval of the piezoelectric element 2 becomes about 1/2 of the pitch interval of the conductive line 10, so that the ultrasonic wave probe excellent in an acoustic characteristic is obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (b) Industrial application fields The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe and a method for manufacturing the same.

(b) Prior art and its problems In general, an ultrasonic probe has a structure in which piezoelectric elements are arranged at a fine pitch for the purpose of improving acoustic characteristics. To manufacture such an ultrasonic probe, it is necessary to finely cut one piezoelectric substrate at the same pitch. Conventionally, for this purpose, a flexible cable is connected to a piezoelectric substrate, and the flexible cable is cut at a pitch that matches the pitch of each conductive line of the flexible cable.

However, in recent years, the pitch intervals required for ultrasonic probes have tended to become finer, and accordingly, the pitch intervals of the conductive lines of flexible cables have also been required to be finer. In this way, when the pitch of the conductive lines is small, the manufacturing yield is poor because it is close to the specification limit of the flexible cable, and furthermore, the manufacturing price becomes much higher because general-purpose cables cannot be used. As a result, there have been disadvantages such as an increase in the cost of the ultrasonic probe itself.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an ultrasonic probe in which piezoelectric elements are arranged at fine pitch intervals using a flexible cable having a relatively wide conductive line pitch interval. The purpose is to make it relatively easy to obtain children.

(c) Means for solving the problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following configuration. That is, the ultrasonic probe of the present invention has a structure in which the conductive lines of the flexible cable are drawn out alternately on the left and right for each piezoelectric element along a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the piezoelectric elements.

Further, in the method for manufacturing an ultrasound probe of the present invention, a flexible cable is used in which a large number of conductive lines are drawn out alternately in the left and right directions, and the left and right conductive lines are integrally joined via a connecting part. After connecting the left and right conductive lines of this flexible cable to the signal electrodes formed on one piezoelectric substrate, each conductive line is connected to the left and right conductive lines of the piezoelectric substrate from one side to the other side. I try to cut each piece individually.

(D) Effect In the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, the conductive lines of the flexible cable are drawn out alternately for each piezoelectric element in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the piezoelectric elements, so the pitch interval of each conductive line is equal to the pitch of the piezoelectric element. This is approximately twice the pitch interval. This allows the use of general purpose flexible cables within specification limits during manufacturing.

In addition, in the method for manufacturing an ultrasound probe of the present invention, the conductive lines drawn out alternately in the left and right directions of the flexible cable are integrally joined via the connecting portion, so that the conductive lines on the left and right sides are The pitch will not be misaligned. Moreover, it is easy to handle. Therefore, the cutting work can be performed accurately and easily. The pitch of the piezoelectric elements obtained after cutting is approximately 1/2 of the pitch of the conductive lines of the flexible cable.
Therefore, an ultrasonic probe with excellent acoustic properties can be obtained.

(E) Embodiment FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ultrasonic probe, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ultrasonic probe. The ultrasonic probe 1 of this embodiment is of a linear electronic scanning type, and a large number of piezoelectric elements 2 are arranged in parallel on a straight line.

Each of these piezoelectric elements 2 is formed by cutting a single piezoelectric substrate at predetermined intervals.A signal electrode 4 is provided on one side of both opposing surfaces of each piezoelectric element 2.
However, a ground electrode 6 is formed on the other side,
A conductive line IO of a flexible cable 8 is individually connected to each signal electrode 4, and a ground line (not shown) is connected to each ground electrode 6.

The above-mentioned conductive lines IO are drawn out alternately on the left and right for each piezoelectric element 2 along a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the piezoelectric elements 2. Now, the pitch interval of each conductive line is 2d,
When the width of the conductive line is A1 and the width of the groove to be cut is W, these relationships are set in advance so that d>A+w (1) (see Figure 3).
. That is, if the above relationship is not satisfied, problems such as the conductive line 10 being chipped during cutting and the piezoelectric elements 2 not being electrically isolated after cutting may occur.

In addition, 12 is a connection part for integrally joining the conductive lines 10 of the left and right flexible cables 8, 14 is a matching layer laminated on the piezoelectric element 2, and 16 is a back layer.

Next, a method for manufacturing the ultrasonic probe 1 having the above configuration will be described.

When manufacturing the ultrasonic probe 1, a flexible cable 8 having the configuration shown in FIG. 3 is used. This flexible cable 8 has many conductive lines! 0 are drawn out alternately in the left and right direction, and the left and right conductive lines 10 are integrally joined via a hollow frame-shaped connecting portion 12. When the left and right conductive lines 10 are integrally joined in this way, the pitch between the left and right conductive lines 10 does not shift, so cutting in the post-process can be performed with high precision and handling is easy.

Further, this flexible cable 8 is set in advance so as to satisfy the condition of the above formula (1) in consideration of cutting.

Next, after connecting the left and right conductive lines 10 of this flexible cable 8 to the signal electrodes 4 formed on one piezoelectric substrate 20, the piezoelectric substrate 20 is connected to the left and right conductive lines lO
Each conductive line 10 is individually cut from one side to the other side. A guissing tool or the like is used for this cutting.

After cutting the piezoelectric substrate 20, a flexible ground cable is connected to the ground electrode 6, the matching layer I4 and the back layer lβ are bonded, and the protruding portion of the connecting portion 12 is removed.

In this example, the flexible cable 8 was used in which the left and right conductive lines 10 and the connecting portions 12 were integrally formed at the same time, but the left and right flexible cables 8 were created separately, and the pitch was shifted vertically in the subsequent process. It is also possible to use an integrated product by joining the two together.

(F) Effect As described above, in the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, the conductive lines of the flexible cable are drawn out alternately on the left and right for each piezoelectric element along the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the piezoelectric elements. , the pitch interval of each conductive line is approximately twice the pitch interval of the piezoelectric element. This allows the use of general purpose flexible cables within specification limits during manufacturing.

In addition, in the method for manufacturing an ultrasound probe of the present invention, the conductive lines drawn out alternately in the left and right directions of the flexible cable are integrally joined via the connecting part.
There is no possibility that the pitch between the left and right conductive lines will be misaligned. It is also easy to handle. Therefore, the cutting work can be performed accurately and easily. Since the pitch of the piezoelectric elements obtained after cutting is approximately 1/2 of the pitch of the conductive lines of the 7° axial cable, an ultrasonic probe with excellent acoustic properties can be obtained.

In this way, it has become possible to relatively easily obtain an ultrasonic probe in which piezoelectric elements are arranged at fine pitch intervals by using a flexible cable whose conductive lines have relatively wide pitch intervals. The effect is demonstrated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ultrasonic probe, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ultrasonic probe, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a flexible cable. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Ultrasonic probe, 2... Piezoelectric element, 4... Signal electrode, 8... Flexible cable, 10... Conductive line, 20... Piezoelectric substrate.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an ultrasonic probe in which a large number of piezoelectric elements are arranged in parallel, signal electrodes are formed on each surface of the piezoelectric elements, and conductive lines of a flexible cable are individually connected to these signal electrodes, An ultrasonic probe characterized in that the conductive lines are drawn out alternately on the left and right for each piezoelectric element along a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the piezoelectric elements. (2) A flexible cable is used in which a large number of conductive lines are drawn out alternately in the left and right direction, and the left and right conductive lines are integrally joined via a connecting part, and the left and right conductive lines of this flexible cable are connected together. Ultrasonic waves are characterized in that after connecting to signal electrodes formed on one piezoelectric substrate, the piezoelectric substrate is individually cut for each conductive line from one side of the left and right conductive lines to the other side. Probe manufacturing method.