TH63006A - What methods are used to process printed circuit boards for reuse? - Google Patents

Abstract

DC60 (28/02/46) This invention provides a method and device for the reprocessing of printed circuit boards for the separation and recovery of metallic materials, including both metallic and insulating materials that make up the printed circuit board. Both metallic and insulating materials, which are separated and recovered, are possible for reprocessing and reuse. In the method for the reprocessing of printed circuit boards, a thermal filtration device 4a and a resin-metal separation device 51 are used. In the thermal filtration process P400, a defective printed circuit board 1 is heated and forced filtered so that only the insulating material 1a passes through the filter. Subsequently, the insulating material 1a and metallic material 1b are separated and recovered. It is desirable that the insulating body base 23 of the defective printed circuit board 100 is made of thermoplastic resin or a mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic packing material, so that when the recovered metallic and insulating materials reach the required amount, The reprocessing for reuse of printed circuit boards (PCBs) involves sequentially identifying and recovering both metallic and insulating materials. This invention provides a method and apparatus for the reprocessing of printed circuit boards for the separation and recovery of metallic materials, including both the metallic and insulating materials that make up the PCB. Both the metallic and insulating materials, which are separated and recovered, are feasible for reprocessing and reuse. In the method for PCB reprocessing and reuse, a hot filtration device 4a and a resin-metal separation device 51 are used. In the hot filtration process P400, a defective PCB 1 is heated and forced filtered so that only the insulating material 1a passes through the filter. Subsequently, the insulating material 1a and the metallic material 1b are separated and recovered. It is desirable that the 23 insulating bases of 100 printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are defective are made of thermoplastic resin or a mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic packaging materials. As a result, when the recovered metal and insulating materials reach the necessary quantity for reprocessing and reuse, both the metal and insulating materials will be feasible for reprocessing and reuse.

Claims (6)

1. A method for recycling printed circuit boards (PCBs) for separating and recovering insulating and metallic materials from defective PCBs used in faulty electrical equipment or waste produced during the electrical equipment manufacturing process. This method involves separating and recovering insulating and metallic materials from PCBs, where the insulating material is made solely of thermoplastic resin or a mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic filler material, and the metallic material consists of printed metallic material. The process involves heating and force-filtering the PCB in a sequence to allow only the insulating material to pass through, thus separating and recovering the insulating and metallic materials. At least one of the insulating or metallic materials is recovered and reused. 2. A method of printed circuit board reuse under claim 1 where force filtering is achieved by filtering the printed circuit board by heating and pressurizing. 3. Method of reuse of printed circuit boards under Claim 1 where the printed circuit board consists of an insulating body base constructed from an insulating material and conductive printed circuits constructed from metallic materials and placed on the surface of the insulating body base, and where the printed circuits pass through to form a multilayer printed circuit board constructed in such a manner that a number of insulating body bases with a number of conductive printed circuits are stacked on top of each other and bonded together by heating and pressure. 4. Method of printed circuit board reuse according to claim 3 where the modulus of the thermoplastic Revin is in the range of 1-1000 MPa at the heating temperature where heating and pressure application in the force filtering phase are carried out. 5. Methods of printed circuit board reuse under claim 3 where the insulating body base is composed of a resin film made only of thermoplastic resin or a mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic filler material; where the insulating body base, including the through-hole and the conductive product, are joined together in the through-hole; where the conductive printed circuit board is electrically connected to the conductive product; and where the conductive product is composed only of metallic material or metallic material and thermoplastic resin containing the insulating body base or a mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic filler material also containing the insulating body base. 6. Method for the separation and recovery of thermoplastic resin from printed circuit boards (PCBs) containing thermoplastic resin. This method involves separating the PCB from the thermoplastic resin-containing components to the metal-containing components by simultaneously heating and force-filtering the PCB to a temperature at which the thermoplastic resin-containing components melt while the metal-containing components remain solid. The molten thermoplastic resin-containing components are passed through the filter without passing the solid metal-containing components through the filter. Each filtered thermoplastic resin-containing component and the unfiltered metal-containing component are recovered, and at least one recovered thermoplastic resin-containing component and one recovered metal-containing component are reused.