TW202341833A - An elastic flexible printed circuit and elastomer using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an elastic flexible printed circuit, comprising an carrier substrate and a copper foil layer. The carrier substrate includes a first bonding pad area, a second bonding pad area and a wire groove. The copper foil layer is located on the carrier substrate, and includes a first land pattern, a second land pattern and a conductive wire. Two ends of the wire groove are respectively connected to the first bonding pad area and the second bonding pad area, and the wire groove extends in a continuous wave shape toward the first direction and has a first length. Two ends of the conductive wire are respectively connected to the first bonding pad and the second bonding pad, and the conductive wire is arranged along the wire groove and located in the guide pad groove. Through the above, the flexible printed circuit board with elasticity is stretched toward both ends by the external force, so that the wire groove has the second length, and after the external force is removed, the wire groove returns to the first length.

Description

Elastic flexible circuit board and elastomer using the same

The present invention relates to an elastomer, and in particular to an elastic flexible circuit board and an elastomer using the circuit board.

Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) has been widely used in various electronic products. It supports and connects electronic components. It has the characteristics of flexibility, flexibility and three-dimensional space wiring. In technology, Driven by the development trend of modern electronic products that emphasize lightness, thinness, size, and flexibility, they have been widely used in computers and peripheral equipment, communication products, consumer electronics, etc.

It puts forward higher requirements for reliability. In addition to the soldering pads connected to the electronic components, the flexible circuit boards in the prior art also have leads extending from the soldering pads. The leads often occupy a large space, making the soft circuit board The wiring area of the circuit board is too large, which is not conducive to thinness and lightness.

General flexible printed circuit boards only have the function of being soft and bendable, but not extensible. Therefore, when used on equipment that requires bending and expansion, they cannot adapt to the expansion and contraction of the equipment. The only way to avoid this is to extend the length of the circuit board. The expansion and contraction will break the circuit of the circuit board. In this way, the growth of the circuit board will cause the size of the device to be increased to match the growth of the circuit board. It cannot reduce the size and does not meet the requirements of being light, thin and short.

If this circuit board is applied to products such as electronic artificial joints, the user still cannot perform multi-directional bending and telescopic movements, which still has its shortcomings in use and application. Therefore, how to further enable flexible printed circuit boards to have multi-directional extensibility is an issue that needs to be solved urgently by the industry.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an elastic flexible circuit board that can be combined with an elastic fabric and has ductility and can be extended in multiple directions. The invention provides an elastic flexible circuit board for connecting a first circuit board and a second circuit board. The elastic flexible circuit board includes: a carrier base material and a copper foil layer.

The carrier base material includes: a first soldering pad area, a second soldering pad area and a wire groove. The first soldering pad area is electrically connected to the first circuit board, the second soldering pad area is electrically connected to the second circuit board, and both ends of the wire trough are connected to the first soldering pad area and the third circuit board respectively. In the second pad area, the conductor groove extends in a first direction in a continuous wave shape and has a first length.

The copper foil layer is located on the carrier substrate. The copper foil layer includes: a first soldering pad, a second soldering pad and a conductive line. The first bonding pad is located on the first bonding pad area, the second bonding pad is located on the second bonding pad area, and the conductive line, the two ends of the conductive line are connected to the first bonding pad and the second bonding pad respectively. Welding pad, the conductive wire is arranged along the extending direction of the conductor groove and is located in the conductor pad groove.

Wherein, the elastic flexible circuit board is stretched toward both ends of the wire trough by an external force, and at the same time, the continuous waveform is stretched by the external force, so that the wire trough has a second length, and the second length is greater than the third length. a length, and after the external force is removed, the wire trough returns to the first length.

In an embodiment of the present invention, further, the material of the carrier base material is a base material of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), or the carrier base material is polyester. Imine film (polyimide, PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (Polycarbonate, PC) or liquid crystal polymer (LCP).

In an embodiment of the present invention, further, the waveform shape is a sine wave shape.

In an embodiment of the present invention, further, the first bonding pad includes a plurality of first sub-bonding pads, the second bonding pad includes a plurality of second sub-bonding pads, and the conductive line includes a plurality of strips. Conductive wires, both ends of each sub-conductive wire are respectively connected to the first sub-bonding pad and the second sub-bonding pad. At the same time, a plurality of the sub-conductive wires are arranged in the conductor trough at equal distances in a second direction. The first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other.

In an embodiment of the present invention, further, a plurality of the elastic flexible circuit boards are combined and connected with the first soldering pad area or the second soldering pad area as the center, so that every two adjacent ones The elastic flexible circuit board has an included angle between the wires at its two ends and presents a radial shape, connecting circuit boards located in multiple directions.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the first bonding pad area or the second bonding pad area is an n-gonal shape, it is an example, but not limited to this, and the sum of the included angles is 360 degrees. .

Further, in one embodiment, the carrier substrate further includes a third bonding pad area located between the first bonding pad and the second bonding pad, and the copper foil layer further includes a third bonding pad, disposed In the third bonding pad area, the wire trough is connected to the first bonding pad area and the third bonding pad, and the second bonding pad area and the third bonding pad respectively, and the conductive line is along the wire trough The extension direction is set, at the same time, in this wire trough.

In addition, the present invention provides an elastomer using the elastic flexible circuit board. The elastomer includes: an elastic fabric and an elastic flexible circuit board.

The elastic flexible circuit board includes: a carrier base material and a copper foil layer. The carrier base material is combined on the elastic fabric through a working method. The carrier base material includes: a first soldering pad area, a second soldering pad area and a conductor area. The wire area has a wire trough, the wire trough extends along a first direction in a wavy shape, and has a first length. Both ends of the wire trough are connected to the first pad area and the second bonding pad area respectively. .

The copper foil layer is located on the carrier substrate. The copper foil layer includes: a first soldering pad, a second soldering pad and a conductive line. The first bonding pad is located in the first bonding pad area, the second bonding pad is located in the second bonding pad area, and both ends of the conductive line are respectively connected to the first bonding pad and the second bonding pad. The conductive line It is arranged along the extending direction of the conductor groove and is located in the guide pad groove.

In an embodiment of the present invention, further, the elastic fabric is an elastic band, elastic knitted fabric or elastic fiber semi-finished product.

In an embodiment of the present invention, further, when the material of the carrier substrate is a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) substrate, the operating method is a hot pressing In the laminating method, the conductor area and the elastic fabric are pressed together, and the pressing temperature range is 100°C to 180°C, and the time is between 3 minutes and 5 minutes.

In addition, when the carrier base material is polyimide film (PI film), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC) or liquid crystal polymer (Liquid Crystal Polymer, LCP) base material, and the working method is a braiding method, and the conductor area and the elastic fabric are interlaced and braided.

Through the above, the advantage of the present invention is that in addition to being able to combine with the elastic fabric and being malleable and extendable in multiple directions, it also solves the problem that the conventional leads often occupy a large space and make the wiring area of the flexible circuit board too large. , which is not conducive to the problem of thinness and thinness.

In order to help the review committee understand the technical features, content and advantages of the present invention and the effects it can achieve, the present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and in the form of embodiments. The drawings used therein are as follows. The main figures are only for illustration and auxiliary description, and may not represent the actual proportions and precise configurations after implementation of the present invention. Therefore, the proportions and configurations of the attached drawings should not be interpreted or limited in the application of the actual implementation of the present invention. The scope of the patent shall be stated first.

Please refer to Figures 1 and 2. The present invention provides an elastic flexible circuit board 1 for connecting a first circuit board A and a second circuit board B. The elastic flexible circuit board 1 includes a carrier base. Material 2 and a copper foil layer 3.

It should be noted that the elastic flexible circuit board 1 of the present invention is a single-sided single-layer or double-sided single-layer elastic flexible circuit board 1. That is to say, the copper foil layer is disposed on the carrier base material. On one side or on two opposite sides.

The carrier substrate 2 includes a first bonding pad area 21, a second bonding pad area 22 and a wire groove 23. The first soldering pad area 21 is electrically connected to the first circuit board A, and the second soldering pad area 22 is electrically connected to the second circuit board B. Both ends of the wire trough 23 are respectively connected to the first bonding pad area 21 and the second bonding pad area 22. The wire trough 23 extends in a continuous wave shape 231 toward a first direction 91. In this embodiment, it is The waveform shape 231 is a sine wave shape and has a first length L1.

In this embodiment, the carrier substrate 2 is made of a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) substrate. In addition, the elastic substrate 2 can also be polyimide. Film (polyimide film, PI film), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (Polycarbonate, PC) or liquid crystal polymer (LCP), but not is limited.

Thermoplastic elastomer or plastic polyurethane is used because it has elastomer properties at room temperature and can be plasticized and deformed at high temperatures. Compared with traditional processes, finished products can be manufactured in a faster processing method.

That is to say, thermoplastic elastomers have characteristics such as high elongation, high resilience, low compression permanent deformation, and low embrittlement temperature at room temperature, while ordinary plastics will permanently deform or break after being stressed. .

The copper foil layer 3 is located on the carrier substrate 2. The copper foil layer 3 includes a first soldering pad 31, a second soldering pad 32 and a conductive line 33. The first soldering pad 31 is located on the first soldering pad area 21 , the second soldering pad 32 is located on the second soldering pad area 22 , and both ends of the conductive line 33 are connected to the first soldering pad 31 and the first soldering pad 31 respectively. The second bonding pad 32, the conductive line 33 is arranged along the extending direction of the conductor groove 23, and is located in the conductor pad groove 23.

It should be noted that in this embodiment, the copper foil layer 3 can be formed and manufactured in a one-time etching process, and copper itself has better ductility, and the copper foil is divided into rolled copper in terms of material. (Rolled Anneal Copper Foil) and electrolytic copper (Electrodeposited Copper Foil). In this embodiment, rolled copper is used. Its mechanical properties are better. When flexibility is required, rolled copper is the better choice. In addition, the thickness is divided into 1/3 ounce (oz), 1/2 ounce (oz), 1 ounce (oz), 2 ounce (oz), etc. In this embodiment, the preferred thickness is 1/2 ounce (oz). 2 ounces (oz).

Wherein, the elastic flexible circuit board 1 is stretched toward both ends of the conductor trough 23 by an external force 4, and at the same time, the corrugated shape 231 is stretched by the external force, so that the conductor trough 23 has a second length L2 (such as 3), the second length L2 is greater than the first length L1, and after the external force 4 is removed, the wire trough 23 returns to the first length L1.

Please refer to Figure 4. The first bonding pad 31 includes a plurality of first sub-bonding pads 311, the second bonding pad 32 includes a plurality of second sub-bonding pads 321, and the conductive line 33 includes a plurality of conductive strips. Line 33. It should be noted that in this embodiment, four sub-conductive lines are used as an example for explanation, but it is not limited to this. Both ends of each sub-conductive line 331 are respectively connected to the first sub-bonding pad 311 and The second sub-bonding pad 321, and at the same time, a plurality of the sub-conductive lines 331 are arranged equidistantly in the conductor groove 23 in a second direction 92, and the first direction 91 and the second direction 92 are perpendicular to each other.

Please refer to Figure 5. A plurality of the flexible flexible circuit boards 1 are combined and connected with the first pad area 21 or the second pad area 22 as the center, so that every two adjacent elastic flexible circuit boards 1 are connected. The flexible circuit board 1 has an included angle θ between its two ends. The sum of these included angles θ is 360 degrees, and presents a radial shape, connecting circuit boards C located in multiple directions.

In addition, in the embodiment, when the first bonding pad area 21 or the second bonding pad area 22 is a regular n-gonal shape, for example, then θ = 360 (degree) / n, θ: included angle, n: In this embodiment, a regular quadrilateral is used as an example for explanation of the number of sides, but it is not limited to this. Therefore, the included angle θ is 90 degrees.

Please refer to FIG. 6 in addition. In one embodiment of the present invention, the carrier substrate 2 further includes a third bonding pad area 24 located between the first bonding pad and the second bonding pad. The copper foil layer 3 further includes a third bonding pad 34, which is disposed in the third bonding pad area 24, so that the wire groove 33 connects the first bonding pad area 21, the third bonding pad area 24, and the second bonding pad area respectively. 22 and the third soldering pad 24 , and the conductive wire 33 is arranged along the extending direction of the conductor trough 23 and is located in the conductor trough 23 .

Through the above, the elastic flexible circuit board can be electrically connected to a third circuit board through the third soldering pad area, so that the third circuit board receives telecommunications through the elastic flexible circuit board and then performs electrical connection. Corresponding function output.

That is to say, through the third soldering pad area 24 and the third soldering pad 34, the third circuit board can receive more signals from other additional devices, thereby increasing the usability of the flexible flexible circuit board 1. In addition to the amplification property, the copper foil layer 3 can also be formed and manufactured in a one-time etching process.

Please refer to Figure 7. In addition, the invention provides an elastic body 5 using the elastic flexible circuit board 1. The elastic body 5 includes an elastic fabric 6 and an elastic flexible circuit board 1.

The elastic flexible circuit board 1 includes a carrier substrate 2 and a copper foil layer 3.

The carrier base material 2 is combined on the elastic fabric 6 through a working method. The carrier base material 2 includes a first soldering pad area 21, a second soldering pad area 22 and a wire groove 23. The wire trough 23 extends along a first direction 91 in a wavy shape 231 and has a first length L1. Both ends of the wire trough 23 are respectively connected to the first bonding pad area 21 and the second bonding pad area 22.

The copper foil layer 3 is located on the carrier substrate 2. The copper foil layer 3 includes a first soldering pad 31, a second soldering pad 32 and a conductive line 33. The first soldering pad 31 is located in the first soldering pad area 21, the second soldering pad 32 is located in the second soldering pad area 22, and both ends of the conductive line 33 are connected to the first soldering pad 31 and the second soldering pad respectively. Pad 32, the conductive wire 33 is arranged along the extending direction of the conductor groove 23, and is located in the conductor pad groove 23.

It should be noted that the elastic fabric is an elastic band, elastic knitted fabric or elastic fiber semi-finished product. When the material of the carrier base material is thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) base material, the working method is a hot pressing method, and the pressing temperature range is 100°C ~180℃, the time is between 3 minutes and 5 minutes.

When the elastic base material is a glue-free base material of polyimide film (PI film), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC) or liquid crystal high When using Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP), the working method is a braiding method, in which the conductor area and the elastic fabric are interlaced and braided together.

In addition, the present invention provides a method for making the elastomer, which can be applied to a single-sided single-layer or double-sided single-layer elastic flexible circuit board 1. The simple process steps are as follows:

1. Carry out one line wiring according to the requirements.

2. Make a layout according to the appearance of the circuit wiring.

3. Cut a copper foil and a carrier substrate according to the size of the layout.

4. The copper foil and the carrier base material are subjected to a hot pressing process. The hot pressing temperature range is 100°C ~ 180°C and the time is between 3 minutes and 5 minutes.

5. Make a conductive line on the thermally pressed copper foil according to the wiring route. In this step of this embodiment, the copper foil layer can be formed in a one-time etching process.

6. Make a conductor insulation layer on the conductive wire.

7. Perform surface treatment. In this step in this embodiment, the surface treatment of the copper foil is performed to prepare for the next step, such as insulation, anti-corrosion, annealing, cleaning, etc., but it is not limited to this.

8. Perform Surface Mount Manufacturing (SMT).

9. Conduct electrical tests

.

This step is used to test whether it meets the required electrical specifications, such as resistance value, circuit continuity, etc., but is not limited to this.

10. Carry out punching and shaping.

11. Combine with a carrier body for a working method.

12. Perform electrical tests.

13. Inspection and packaging.

In step 11 above, when the material of the carrier base material is a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) base material, the working method is a hot pressing method, and the conductor area is The elastic fabric is pressed together, and the pressing temperature range is 100°C to 180°C, and the time is between 3 minutes and 5 minutes.

When the carrier substrate is polyimide film (PI film), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC) or liquid crystal polymer (Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP), the working method is a knitting method, the conductor area and the elastic fabric are interlaced and knitted, for example, the elastic fiber of the elastic fabric and the conductor area are crocheted (Intarsia Knitting), so that the The carrier base material is woven with the elastic fabric.

To sum up, the elastic flexible circuit board is applied to the elastic fabric that needs to have a stretch function. Because the wire groove has the wave shape and the thermoplastic elastomer material is used, the elastic flexible circuit board can be used at any time. The length of the flexible circuit board changes appropriately as the elastic fabric stretches and retracts, thereby effectively preventing the extended end of the elastic flexible circuit board from being creased by the structure and damaging the circuit structure. Therefore, the service life of the electronic device can be effectively extended.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention and should not be used to limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made based on the patentable scope of the present invention and the content of the patent specification are It is still within the scope of the patent of this invention.

1: Flexible flexible circuit board 2: Carrier substrate 21: First pad area 22: Second pad area 23:Wire trough 24: The third pad area 231:Wave shape 3: Copper foil layer 31:First soldering pad 311: First sub-pad 32: Second pad 321: Second sub-pad 33: Conductive thread 331:Sub-conductive wire 34: The third soldering pad 4: External force 5: Elastomer 6: Elastic fabric 91:First direction 92:Second direction L1: first length L2: second length A:First circuit board B: Second circuit board C: circuit board θ: included angle

Figure 1 is a simple schematic diagram of the elastic flexible circuit board of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a simplified exploded schematic diagram of the elastic flexible circuit board of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the elastic flexible circuit board of the present invention being stretched by external force.

Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the elastic flexible circuit board of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the elastic flexible circuit board of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the elastic flexible circuit board of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a schematic three-dimensional view of the elastic fabric of the present invention.

1: Flexible flexible circuit board

2: Carrier substrate

21: First pad area

22: Second pad area

23:Wire trough

3: Copper foil layer

31:First soldering pad

32: Second pad

33: Conductive thread

91:First direction

L1: first length

Claims (16)

An elastic flexible circuit board is used to connect a first circuit board and a second circuit board. The flexible circuit board with elastic wires includes: A carrier base material, including: a first pad area electrically connected to the first circuit board; a second pad area electrically connected to the second circuit board; and A wire trough, the two ends of which are respectively connected to the first bonding pad area and the second bonding pad area, the wire trough extends in a continuous wave shape in a first direction and has a first length; and A copper foil layer is located on the carrier substrate. The copper foil layer includes: a first bonding pad located on the first bonding pad area; a second bonding pad located on the second bonding pad area; and A conductive wire, the two ends of which are respectively connected to the first soldering pad and the second soldering pad, the conductive wire is arranged along the extension direction of the conductive groove and is located in the conductive pad groove; Wherein, the elastic flexible circuit board is stretched toward both ends of the wire trough by an external force, and at the same time, the continuous waveform is stretched by the external force, so that the wire trough has a second length, and the second length is greater than the third length. a length, and after the external force is removed, the wire trough returns to the first length. The elastic flexible circuit board as described in claim 1, wherein the material of the carrier base material is a base material of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The elastic flexible circuit board as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waveform shape is a sine wave shape. The elastic flexible circuit board as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first soldering pad includes a plurality of first sub-soldering pads, the second soldering pad includes a plurality of second sub-soldering pads, and the conductive line It includes a plurality of sub-conductive lines, and both ends of each sub-conductive line are respectively connected to the first sub-bonding pad and the second sub-bonding pad. At the same time, the plurality of sub-conductive lines are arranged at equal distances from the conductor in a second direction. In the groove, the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other. The elastic flexible circuit board as described in claim 1, wherein a plurality of the elastic flexible circuit boards are combined and connected with the first soldering pad area or the second soldering pad area as the center, so that every two The adjacent elastic flexible circuit boards have an included angle between the connecting lines at their two ends and present a radial shape, connecting the circuit boards located in multiple directions. The elastic flexible circuit board as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first pad area or the second pad area has an n-gonal shape, and the sum of the included angles is 360 degrees. The elastic flexible circuit board as described in claim 1, wherein the carrier base material is polyimide film (PI film), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Carbonate (Polycarbonate, PC) or Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP). The elastic flexible circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the carrier base material further includes a third soldering pad area located between the first soldering pad and the second soldering pad, and the copper foil layer further includes There is a third soldering pad disposed in the third soldering pad area, so that the wire trough connects the first soldering pad area and the third soldering pad, and the second soldering pad area and the third soldering pad respectively, and the The conductive wire is arranged along the extending direction of the conductor trough and is located in the conductor trough. The elastic flexible circuit board as described in claim 8, wherein the elastic flexible circuit board is electrically connected to a third circuit board through the third pad area, so that the third circuit board can be connected through The flexible flexible circuit board receives telecommunications. The elastic flexible circuit board according to claim 8, wherein the copper foil layer is integrally formed by etching. The elastic flexible circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the copper foil layer is disposed on one side or two opposite sides of the carrier base material. The elastic flexible circuit board as claimed in claim 1, wherein the copper foil layer is integrally formed by etching. An elastomer, using the elastic flexible circuit board, the elastomer includes: an elastic fabric; and A flexible flexible circuit board, including: A carrier base material is bonded to the elastic fabric through a working method. The carrier base material includes: a first bonding pad area; a second bonding pad area; and A wire area has a wire trough, the wire trough extends in a wave shape along a first direction and has a first length, and both ends of the wire trough are connected to the first bonding pad area and the second bonding pad respectively. District; and A copper foil layer is located on the elastic base material. The copper foil layer includes: a first bonding pad, the first bonding pad is located in the first bonding pad area; a second bonding pad, the second bonding pad is located in the second bonding pad area; and A conductive wire, the two ends of which are respectively connected to the first soldering pad and the second soldering pad, the conductive wire is arranged along the extension direction of the conductive groove and is located in the conductive pad groove. The elastic body according to claim 13, wherein the elastic fabric is an elastic band, elastic knitted fabric or elastic fiber semi-finished product. The elastomer according to claim 13, wherein the material of the carrier base material is a base material of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and the operation method is a heat pressing method. Construction method, and the pressing temperature range is 100℃~180℃, and the time is between 3 minutes and 5 minutes. The elastic fabric according to claim 13, wherein the carrier base material is polyimide film (PI film), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (Polycarbonate) , PC) or Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP), and the working method is a braiding method, in which the conductor area and the elastic fabric are interlaced and braided.

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