WO2005002302A1 - Flexi-rigid printed circuit board with integral flexible heat sink area - Google Patents

Flexi-rigid printed circuit board with integral flexible heat sink area Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2005002302A1
WO2005002302A1 PCT/GB2004/002452 GB2004002452W WO2005002302A1 WO 2005002302 A1 WO2005002302 A1 WO 2005002302A1 GB 2004002452 W GB2004002452 W GB 2004002452W WO 2005002302 A1 WO2005002302 A1 WO 2005002302A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
rigid
circuit board
flexi
printed circuit
area
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2004/002452
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Steven Dale Westbury
Original Assignee
Bae Systems Plc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from GB0314637A external-priority patent/GB0314637D0/en
Application filed by Bae Systems Plc filed Critical Bae Systems Plc
Priority to US10/501,093 priority Critical patent/US20050276024A1/en
Publication of WO2005002302A1 publication Critical patent/WO2005002302A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K7/00—Constructional details common to different types of electric apparatus
    • H05K7/20—Modifications to facilitate cooling, ventilating, or heating
    • H05K7/2039—Modifications to facilitate cooling, ventilating, or heating characterised by the heat transfer by conduction from the heat generating element to a dissipating body
    • H05K7/205—Heat-dissipating body thermally connected to heat generating element via thermal paths through printed circuit board [PCB]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K1/00—Printed circuits
    • H05K1/02—Details
    • H05K1/0201—Thermal arrangements, e.g. for cooling, heating or preventing overheating
    • H05K1/0203—Cooling of mounted components
    • H05K1/0207—Cooling of mounted components using internal conductor planes parallel to the surface for thermal conduction, e.g. power planes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K1/00—Printed circuits
    • H05K1/02—Details
    • H05K1/0201—Thermal arrangements, e.g. for cooling, heating or preventing overheating
    • H05K1/0203—Cooling of mounted components
    • H05K1/0204—Cooling of mounted components using means for thermal conduction connection in the thickness direction of the substrate
    • H05K1/0206—Cooling of mounted components using means for thermal conduction connection in the thickness direction of the substrate by printed thermal vias
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K1/00—Printed circuits
    • H05K1/18—Printed circuits structurally associated with non-printed electric components
    • H05K1/189—Printed circuits structurally associated with non-printed electric components characterised by the use of a flexible or folded printed circuit
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to printed circuits covered by H05K1/00
    • H05K2201/09—Shape and layout
    • H05K2201/09145—Edge details
    • H05K2201/0919—Exposing inner circuit layers or metal planes at the side edge of the PCB or at the walls of large holes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to printed circuits covered by H05K1/00
    • H05K2201/09—Shape and layout
    • H05K2201/09209—Shape and layout details of conductors
    • H05K2201/0929—Conductive planes
    • H05K2201/09309—Core having two or more power planes; Capacitive laminate of two power planes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K3/00—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits
    • H05K3/46—Manufacturing multilayer circuits
    • H05K3/4688—Composite multilayer circuits, i.e. comprising insulating layers having different properties
    • H05K3/4691—Rigid-flexible multilayer circuits comprising rigid and flexible layers, e.g. having in the bending regions only flexible layers

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a flexi-rigid printed circuit board with integral flexible heat sink area.
  • heat is conducted away from key electronic components in a confined area of a printed circuit board by using a soft thermal interface material 1 sandwiched between the electronic components 2 and an aluminium heat spreader 3 as shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.
  • the soft thermal interface material 1 is used to conform to the electronic component skyline and transfer heat to the aluminium heat spreader 3 from which this heat is then transferred to the external body components 4 of the assembly.
  • a flexi-rigid printed circuit board having a rigid area, made up of inner layers of flexible copper and outer layers of rigid insulating material, and an integral flexible heat sink area having springy edge regions of exposed flexible copper layers without outer layers of rigid insulating material, and a metal heat conducting body which is springily engaged by the edge regions to provide a heat sink for the rigid areas of the board.
  • the exposed flexible copper layers of the springy edge regions are at least partially coated with an anticorrosive material, more preferably at least one of tin, lead, gold.
  • the board includes tubular metal thermal vias interconnecting flexible copper layers in the rigid area to improve heat transfer through the flexible copper layers.
  • the thermal vias are located in the rigid area below parts where high heat output components are to be mounted.
  • the metal heat conduction body is a shell into which the heat sink area is a push fit and held in place by spring contact between the springy edge regions and the shell.
  • the springy edge regions are in the form of tabs extending from the rigid area.
  • Figure 1 is a perspective exploded view of a conventional printed circuit board assembly with a heat conduction system not according to the present invention
  • Figure 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a flexible heat sink area with heat conducting body according to the present invention
  • Figure 3 is a perspective view of part of a flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to the present invention
  • Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of an assembled flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to the present invention taken through an assembled flexi-rigid printed circuit board along the line A-A of Figure 5
  • Figure 5 is a perspective exploded view of a flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to the present invention forming part of an assembly.
  • a flexi-rigid printed circuit board 5 with integral flexible heat sink indicated generally at 6 according to the present invention is shown in Figures 2 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.
  • the flexi-rigid printed circuit board 5 has at least one rigid area 7 made up of inner layers 8 of flexible copper as can best be seen from Figure 4 and outer layers 9 of rigid insulating material.
  • the board 5 includes an integral flexible heat sink area having springy edge regions 10 of exposed flexible copper layers 11 without the outer layers 9 of rigid insulating material.
  • a metal heat conducting body 12 preferably in the form of a shell as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5.
  • the body 12 is springily engaged by the edge regions 10 to provide a heat sink for the rigid areas 7 of the printed circuit board 5.
  • the heat sink area 7 is a push fit into the shell 12 and is held in place by spring contact between the springy edge regions 10 and the inner wall of the body 12.
  • the springy edge regions 10 are in the form of tabs extending from the rigid area 7. These tabs can be bent upwardly out of the plane of the rigid area 7 as can be seen on the top right hand of Figure 2 and eventually are butted together as shown in the bottom right portion of Figure 2 to provide effectively a circular form as shown in cross-section in Figure 4.
  • the rigid area 7 has been illustrated as basically circular in plan with the springy edge regions 10 extending radially as tabs therefrom and with the body 12 having a tubular format, any other shape of rigid area 7, springy edge regions 10 and body 12 desired can be provided and utilised.
  • the springy edge regions 10 which effectively form extensions to the rigid area 7 are in the form of the exposed copper layers which extend integrally and as part of the inner layers 8 of flexible copper within the rigid area 7.
  • the exposed layers of flexible copper which form the springy edge regions 10 are at least partially coated with anti corrosion material such as tin, lead and/or gold, for conductivity and corrosion resistance purposes.
  • thermal vias 13 are conveniently tubular metal thermal vias which interconnect the flexible copper layers 8 in the rigid area 7 to improve heat transfer between the flexible copper layers. At least some of the thermal vias 13, as shown in Figure 4, are located in the rigid area 7 below parts where high heat output components 14 are to be mounted.
  • the invention thus requires fewer components than the conventional solution described in respect of Figure 1 , requires no additional assembly time and has minimal extra space requirements as the flexible heat sink is very thin. This can be seen by a comparison between the conventional Figure 1 assembly and the assembly of Figure 5 which incorporates a flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 the rigid area 7 of the flexi-rigid printed circuit board has been shown without electrical components 15 for convenience.
  • the electrical components 15 are nested together and secured to the rigid area 7 and springy edge regions 10 by means of a mounting plate 16 and connecting strap 17.
  • a further casing cover 18 is provided for the assembly to cover the components 15.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Structure Of Printed Boards (AREA)
  • Cooling Or The Like Of Electrical Apparatus (AREA)

Abstract

A flexi-rigid printed circuit board (5) has a rigid area (7) made up of inner layers (8) of flexible copper and outer layers (9) of rigid insulating material. The board (5) includes an integral flexible heat sink area having springy edge regions (10) of exposed flexible copper layers without outer layers (9) of rigid insulating material, and a metal heat conducting body (12) which is springily engaged for the rigid areas (7) of the board (5).

Description

FLEXI-RIGID PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD WITH INTEGRAL FLEXIBLE HEAT SINK AREA This invention relates to a flexi-rigid printed circuit board with integral flexible heat sink area. Conventionally heat is conducted away from key electronic components in a confined area of a printed circuit board by using a soft thermal interface material 1 sandwiched between the electronic components 2 and an aluminium heat spreader 3 as shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings. The soft thermal interface material 1 is used to conform to the electronic component skyline and transfer heat to the aluminium heat spreader 3 from which this heat is then transferred to the external body components 4 of the assembly. This conventional assembly is not cost effective as it requires additional components such as the interface material 1 and aluminium heat spreader 3 which additionally add weight and space requirement to the assembly as wed as cost. There is thus a need for a simpler and more cost effective system for conducting heat away from key electronic components on a printed circuit board in a confined area. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a flexi-rigid printed circuit board having a rigid area, made up of inner layers of flexible copper and outer layers of rigid insulating material, and an integral flexible heat sink area having springy edge regions of exposed flexible copper layers without outer layers of rigid insulating material, and a metal heat conducting body which is springily engaged by the edge regions to provide a heat sink for the rigid areas of the board. Preferably the exposed flexible copper layers of the springy edge regions are at least partially coated with an anticorrosive material, more preferably at least one of tin, lead, gold. Conveniently the board includes tubular metal thermal vias interconnecting flexible copper layers in the rigid area to improve heat transfer through the flexible copper layers. Advantageously at least some of the thermal vias are located in the rigid area below parts where high heat output components are to be mounted. Preferably the metal heat conduction body is a shell into which the heat sink area is a push fit and held in place by spring contact between the springy edge regions and the shell. Conveniently the springy edge regions are in the form of tabs extending from the rigid area. For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 is a perspective exploded view of a conventional printed circuit board assembly with a heat conduction system not according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a flexible heat sink area with heat conducting body according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a perspective view of part of a flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to the present invention, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of an assembled flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to the present invention taken through an assembled flexi-rigid printed circuit board along the line A-A of Figure 5, and Figure 5 is a perspective exploded view of a flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to the present invention forming part of an assembly. A flexi-rigid printed circuit board 5 with integral flexible heat sink indicated generally at 6 according to the present invention is shown in Figures 2 to 5 of the accompanying drawings. The flexi-rigid printed circuit board 5 has at least one rigid area 7 made up of inner layers 8 of flexible copper as can best be seen from Figure 4 and outer layers 9 of rigid insulating material. The board 5 includes an integral flexible heat sink area having springy edge regions 10 of exposed flexible copper layers 11 without the outer layers 9 of rigid insulating material. Also forming part of the integral flexible heat sink area is a metal heat conducting body 12 preferably in the form of a shell as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. As can be seen specifically from Figure 4 the body 12 is springily engaged by the edge regions 10 to provide a heat sink for the rigid areas 7 of the printed circuit board 5. As can be seen more clearly from Figure 4, the heat sink area 7 is a push fit into the shell 12 and is held in place by spring contact between the springy edge regions 10 and the inner wall of the body 12. Preferably the springy edge regions 10, as can be seen from the three stage drawing of Figure 2, are in the form of tabs extending from the rigid area 7. These tabs can be bent upwardly out of the plane of the rigid area 7 as can be seen on the top right hand of Figure 2 and eventually are butted together as shown in the bottom right portion of Figure 2 to provide effectively a circular form as shown in cross-section in Figure 4. It is to be understood, however, that although the rigid area 7 has been illustrated as basically circular in plan with the springy edge regions 10 extending radially as tabs therefrom and with the body 12 having a tubular format, any other shape of rigid area 7, springy edge regions 10 and body 12 desired can be provided and utilised. The springy edge regions 10 which effectively form extensions to the rigid area 7 are in the form of the exposed copper layers which extend integrally and as part of the inner layers 8 of flexible copper within the rigid area 7. Preferably the exposed layers of flexible copper which form the springy edge regions 10 are at least partially coated with anti corrosion material such as tin, lead and/or gold, for conductivity and corrosion resistance purposes. Thus the heat conducting layer provided by the inner layers of heat flexible copper runs into the rigid area 7 wherever it can and as many layers as possible are joined with thermal vias 13 as shown in Figure 4. These thermal vias are conveniently tubular metal thermal vias which interconnect the flexible copper layers 8 in the rigid area 7 to improve heat transfer between the flexible copper layers. At least some of the thermal vias 13, as shown in Figure 4, are located in the rigid area 7 below parts where high heat output components 14 are to be mounted. The invention thus requires fewer components than the conventional solution described in respect of Figure 1 , requires no additional assembly time and has minimal extra space requirements as the flexible heat sink is very thin. This can be seen by a comparison between the conventional Figure 1 assembly and the assembly of Figure 5 which incorporates a flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to the present invention. In the illustration of Figure 5 the rigid area 7 of the flexi-rigid printed circuit board has been shown without electrical components 15 for convenience. The electrical components 15 are nested together and secured to the rigid area 7 and springy edge regions 10 by means of a mounting plate 16 and connecting strap 17. A further casing cover 18 is provided for the assembly to cover the components 15.

Claims

1. A flexi-rigid printed circuit board having a rigid area, made up of inner layers of flexible copper and outer layers of rigid insulating material, and an integral flexible heat sink area having springy edge regions of exposed flexible copper layers without outer layers of rigid insulating material, and a metal heat conducting body which is springily engaged by the edge regions to provide a heat sink for the rigid areas of the board.
2. A flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to Claim 1 , wherein the exposed flexible copper layers of the springy edge regions are at least partially coated with an anti corrosion material.
3. A flexi-rigid circuit board according to claim 2, wherein the anti corrosion material is at least one of tin, lead, gold.
4. A flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, including tubular metal thermal vias inter-connecting flexible copper layers in the rigid area to improve heat transfer between the flexible copper layers.
5. A flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to Claim 4, in which at least some of the thermal vias are located in the rigid area below parts where high heat output components are to be mounted.
6. A flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the metal heat conducting body is a shell into which the heat sink area is a push fit and held in place by spring contact between the springy edge regions and the shell.
7. A flexi-rigid printed circuit board according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the springy edge regions are in the form of tabs extending from the rigid area.
8. A flexi-rigid printed circuit board substantially as hereinbefore described and as illustrated in any one of Figures 2 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.
PCT/GB2004/002452 2003-06-24 2004-06-10 Flexi-rigid printed circuit board with integral flexible heat sink area WO2005002302A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/501,093 US20050276024A1 (en) 2004-06-10 2004-06-10 Flexi-rigid printed circuit board with integral flexible heat sink area

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0314637.0 2003-06-24
EP03253983 2003-06-24
EP03253983.5 2003-06-24
GB0314637A GB0314637D0 (en) 2003-06-24 2003-06-24 Flexi-rigid printed circuit board with integral flexible heat sink area

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2005002302A1 true WO2005002302A1 (en) 2005-01-06

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB2004/002452 WO2005002302A1 (en) 2003-06-24 2004-06-10 Flexi-rigid printed circuit board with integral flexible heat sink area

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2005002302A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3944726A1 (en) * 2020-07-23 2022-01-26 AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft Component carrier with protruding thermally conductive tongue and corresponding method of manufacturing

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4149219A (en) * 1978-02-22 1979-04-10 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Flexible printed circuit board assembly
GB2124035A (en) * 1982-07-15 1984-02-08 Standard Telephones Cables Ltd Printed circuit boards
US4725920A (en) * 1984-10-09 1988-02-16 Alps Electric Co., Ltd. Holding structure of substrates
US4949225A (en) * 1987-11-10 1990-08-14 Ibiden Co., Ltd. Circuit board for mounting electronic components
US5497495A (en) * 1991-05-07 1996-03-05 Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. Computer electronic system having a cover for every module
US6118072A (en) * 1997-12-03 2000-09-12 Teledyne Technologies Incorp. Device having a flexible circuit disposed within a conductive tube and method of making same
US6212076B1 (en) * 1999-02-26 2001-04-03 International Business Machines Corporation Enhanced heat-dissipating printed circuit board package

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4149219A (en) * 1978-02-22 1979-04-10 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Flexible printed circuit board assembly
GB2124035A (en) * 1982-07-15 1984-02-08 Standard Telephones Cables Ltd Printed circuit boards
US4725920A (en) * 1984-10-09 1988-02-16 Alps Electric Co., Ltd. Holding structure of substrates
US4949225A (en) * 1987-11-10 1990-08-14 Ibiden Co., Ltd. Circuit board for mounting electronic components
US5497495A (en) * 1991-05-07 1996-03-05 Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. Computer electronic system having a cover for every module
US6118072A (en) * 1997-12-03 2000-09-12 Teledyne Technologies Incorp. Device having a flexible circuit disposed within a conductive tube and method of making same
US6212076B1 (en) * 1999-02-26 2001-04-03 International Business Machines Corporation Enhanced heat-dissipating printed circuit board package

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3944726A1 (en) * 2020-07-23 2022-01-26 AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft Component carrier with protruding thermally conductive tongue and corresponding method of manufacturing
US20220030697A1 (en) * 2020-07-23 2022-01-27 At&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft Component Carrier With Protruding Thermally Conductive Tongue and Corresponding Method of Manufacturing
US11672076B2 (en) 2020-07-23 2023-06-06 AT&SAustria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG Component carrier with protruding thermally conductive tongue and corresponding method of manufacturing

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