Electrical connecting means

A flexible supporting sheet formed of insulating material has "printed circuit"-type adherent conductors thereon which are flexible with the sheet and which are so disposed that contact parts which are also carried by the sheet, and which are arranged to be connectable to the individual components of a row of circuit components, are located at the ends of relatively long, straight, parallel hinging portions of the conductors, all of which hinging portions are arranged on the same side of the respective components to which they are to be connected. The sheet can be cut on three sides of each component, and its connected hinging portions of the conductors, to enable bending back an overlying tongue-like section of the sheet for access to the component without severing any of the conductors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
So-called printed circuit boards comprised of an insulating sheet or panel 
having thin conductive leads, connector portions and the like deposited 
thereon are used to provide electrical connections for many types of 
components in the electrical and electronic fields. In some instances thin 
bendable sheets are used having printed circuit conductor and contact 
components thereon enabling the sheet to be bent so that connections can 
be made to parts which are not located on a common plane. One problem 
which has existed as the result of the use of such flexible circuit 
sheet-type connectors has been that after its installation, the entire 
sheet overlies the connected components, so that if a component requires 
servicing or replacement it is frequently impossible to do this without 
severing and destroying some of the conductors, thereby rendering it 
necessary to rewire the parts with conventional wiring. Such rewiring in 
itself can be of great difficulty and may create problems due to the 
tendency of the heat of the soldering implement to damage delicate parts. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved flexible 
printed circuit-type connecting sheet structure which is capable of 
providing connections to a large number of components even though they lie 
in different planes, but the conducting elements of which are so arranged 
that each individual component is readily accessible for servicing or 
replacement without destroying any part of the sheet or the conductors 
thereon. The above indicates the overall objective of the present 
invention. Further objects and advantages will become apparent upon 
consideration of the present disclosure in its entirety.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED FORM OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to the drawing, reference character 10 designates generally a 
sheet of flexible plastic material which is formed of a composition which 
is easily manually bendable and which has high electrical insulating 
value. A polyester plastic such as "Mylar," sold by E. I. du Pont de 
Nemours & Co. constitutes a suitable material. The sheet 10 is of 
sufficient thickness to be effectively self-supporting, although no 
substantial physical strength is normally required, and a thickness of the 
order of 0.005 to 0.010 inch is adequate for use in installations of sizes 
normally encountered. 
For the sake of illustration it is presumed that it is desired to provide 
electrical connections to a plurality of switches 12 and indicator lights 
14 which are supported on a stiff supporting panel 15 in the conventional 
or any suitable manner. Such components are frequently required on control 
panels for controlling the operation of a plurality of devices, but are 
merely shown to typify any components to which electrical connections 
might be required. The switches and indicator lights, as is typical, are 
provided with terminals 16, 18 which project from the rear behind the 
supporting panel 15. As brought out in FIG. 2 the flexible conductor 
supporting sheet 10 is bent during installation to engage the terminals 
16, 18, which do not lie in a common plane. 
All of the conductive leads for all of the components on the panel are so 
arranged as to extend in closely adjacent parallel relation from one edge 
of the sheet 10, shown at the bottom in FIG. 1, perpendicularly upwardly 
at a position which enables them to extend between the laterally spaced 
individual components of the horizontal rows of switches and indicator 
lights. The vertical lead portions just referred to and which are 
designated 20 are shown as occupying a greater width on the sheet than is 
actually necessary in practice, due to the limitations of line width 
imposed in making a drawing for patent illustration purposes. It will be 
understood by those skilled in the art that they may actually be deposited 
very close together, while still spaced and insulated sufficiently and 
without occupying as great a proportion of the width of the sheet as is 
shown in FIG. 1 so that, for example, the middle and lower horizontal 
rows, although shown as containing only four components, might still have 
adequate room for six apiece. 
Beneath and spaced from each horizontal row of components the leads extend 
laterally from the vertical section 20 in horizontal branching 
continuation portions as 22, 23, 24. In each case the horizontal branching 
lead portions are spaced substantially below the components to which they 
are to be connected, and all of the leads for the components in each row 
are on the same side, shown as the lower side in the illustrated 
arrangement depicted. In vertical alignment with each component, the leads 
for such component are turned to the vertical position and extend to the 
respective terminals of the component, where each is provided with a 
suitable integral solderable connector lug portion 26. The connector lug 
portions are positioned to be overfitted on and soldered to the terminals 
16, 18. The vertical portions of the leads which connect the horizontal 
portions 23 to the component are generally designated 25. Such vertical 
portions are long enough so that they constitute hinging sections which 
are readily bendable with the circuit sheet about a relatively short 
radius, without injury. The conductive deposited material is a ductile 
material such as silver, which is deposited in a flat shape. 
By virtue of the fact that the connection portions 25 of the conductors are 
all located on the same side of the components to which they are 
connected, and are parallel to one another, it is possible to gain access 
to each individual component by means of cuts from an edge of the sheet. 
By means of such cuts, severed edges may be formed at any desired time by 
service personnel, in such manner as to extend around three sides of any 
component to which access is required. The cuts also extend beside the 
connecting hingable conductor portions 25. Access is attained by cutting 
the sheet along lines extending from the edge in the manner illustrated by 
way of example by the dotted lines 31 and 32, which extend downwardly from 
the top of the sheet on both sides of switch element 12', and as also 
shown in connection with the indicator light component 14' in the bottom 
row, where a horizontal cut might be made, for example, along the dotted 
line 33 and connecting vertical cuts 34, 35 will then provide means 
whereby a tongue section 37 is formed, separated on the top and vertical 
sides but remaining attached at the bottom. It will be appreciated that 
the connector lugs can then be released, the tongue 37 bent back, and 
access had to the underlying component. 
I preferably provide circular perforations as 40 located in alignment with 
the rows both vertically and horizontally, and positioned so as to define 
the corners of the tongues formed by the cuts made for access in the 
manner described, and so that by terminating the cuts at such 
perforations, the danger of stress concentrations and unwanted further 
tearing and failure which might damage the conductor portions is 
prevented. 
This Detailed Description of Preferred Form of the Invention, and the 
accompanying drawings, have been furnished in compliance with the 
statutory requirement to set forth the best mode contemplated by the 
inventor of carrying out the invention. The prior portions consisting of 
the "Abstract of the Disclosure" and the "Background of the Invention" are 
furnished without prejudice to comply with administrative requirements of 
the Patent and Trademark Office.