Elastic flexible substrate and manufacturing method thereof

An elastic flexible substrate includes an insulating base material having a first insulating film and a second insulating film, and a plurality of wires, each of which is disposed on one of the first insulating film and the second insulating film. The insulating base material has a plurality of bonding portions that are surface-bonded, openings are formed between the bonding portions, and two of the plurality of wires are electrically connected in the bonding portions.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-073566, filed on Mar. 31, 2014, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an elastic flexible substrate and a manufacturing method thereof. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an elastic flexible substrate that can be used as a circuit board, and also to a method of manufacturing such an elastic flexible substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art

As electronic devices have been made smaller and thinner, flexible substrates have been used in various types of electronics equipment. Such flexible substrates are often used in a bent state from the viewpoint of space saving, have a thin overall form, and have flexibility.

In recent years, flexible substrates have been expected to be used in various fields. The use of flexible substrates has been considered not only in categories of conventional electronics equipment fields, but also in fields such as wearable devices, robots, and further, healthcare, medical care, and nursing care. For example, flexible substrates have been expected to be used also in applications in which sensors are arranged on free-form surfaces such as palmar surfaces, applications in which sensors are used in touch panels that have a relatively large curved form such as a “spherical surface”, and further, applications in which sensors are built into clothing items and the like that are bent and expanded/contracted whenever used.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-140727, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-224508, and Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 1-135758 are examples of related art.

SUMMARY

One non-limiting and exemplary embodiment provides an elastic flexible substrate in which an expanding/contracting direction is not limited to one direction and a twist does not occur, and a manufacturing method thereof.

In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature an elastic flexible substrate including an insulating base material and a wire disposed on the insulating base material. The insulating base material has a plurality of bonding portions that are surface-bonded, and openings are formed between the bonding portions.

According to the one aspect, in an elastic flexible substrate of the present disclosure, an expanding/contracting direction is not limited to one direction and a twist does not occur.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the description of embodiments of the present disclosure, the matters considered by the disclosers will first be described.

As for an elastic flexible substrate in a conventional configuration (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-140727, for example), a slit crossing a movement direction of a conductive pattern is formed, and the slit is widened so that the relevant flexible printed circuit board is elongated in the movement direction of the conductive pattern. Therefore, there is a problem in that expansion/contraction is impossible in a direction parallel to the slit formed in the board and an expanding/contracting direction is limited in the board surface.

Moreover, as for an elastic flexible substrate in a conventional configuration (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-224508, for example), a displacement generated by twisting the substrate contributes to elongation of the entire substrate. Therefore, there is a problem in that a twist always occurs upon expansion/contraction.

The present disclosure is made in view of such problems, to provide an elastic flexible substrate in which an expanding/contracting direction is not limited to one direction and a twist does not occur, and a manufacturing method thereof.

<Elastic Flexible Substrate of the Present Disclosure>

An elastic flexible substrate according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the various elements in the drawings are only schematically illustrated for the sake of the understanding of the present disclosure and may differ from actual elements in terms of a dimensional ratio, appearance, and so on.

First, an elastic flexible substrate of one embodiment of the present disclosure will be outlined.

The most significant feature of the elastic flexible substrate of one embodiment of the present disclosure is that an insulating base material3, which is a component of the elastic flexible substrate, includes a plurality of bonding portions that are “surface-bonded” and openings are formed between the bonding portions. With this feature, the present disclosure can provide a flexible substrate that is not only free from twists but also freely expandable or contractible.

Next, an elastic flexible substrate1of a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

FIG. 1is a partial schematic plan view of the elastic flexible substrate1of the first embodiment of the present disclosure.FIGS. 2A to 2Care enlarged schematic section views of bonding portions5in the elastic flexible substrate1of the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

The elastic flexible substrate1of the first embodiment of the present disclosure includes the insulating base material3configured with a plurality of insulating films2, and a wire4disposed on the insulating base material3. The wire4is disposed along a longitudinal direction of each insulating film2; for example, each wire4is disposed on an inner principal surface of each insulating film2. In the following description of this embodiment, among the plurality of insulating films2inFIG. 1, the focus is on a first insulating film21, a second insulating film22, a third insulating film23, and a fourth insulating film24. The first insulating film21to the fourth insulating film24are opposed, and the first insulating film21and the second insulating film22are surface-bonded at a plurality of places at predetermined intervals through, for example, an adhesive7. Further, the second insulating film22is surface-bonded to the third insulating film23between the adjacent bonding portions5bonded to the first insulating film21. Moreover, the third insulating film23is surface-bonded to the fourth insulating film24between the adjacent bonding portions5bonded to the second insulating film22. In this way, the plurality of insulating films2are bonded such that the bonding portions5between the adjacent insulating films2are staggered. When a force is exerted to elongate the insulating base material3, which is formed of the plurality of insulating films2thus bonded, in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the insulating films2, an opening6is formed between each pair of the bonding portions5and the insulating base material3can be extended. When a force is exerted to elongate the insulating base material3in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the insulating films2while the openings6are formed, the insulating base material3is deformed in a direction in which the openings6are closed, and can be extended in the longitudinal direction of the insulating films2. That is, with reference to a state shown inFIG. 1, in which the openings6are formed between the bonding portions5, the insulating base material3can be extended both in the longitudinal direction of the insulating films2and in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and further, can be extended in an oblique direction inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the insulating films2.

In the elastic flexible substrate1thus configured, each opening6has a substantially hexagonal shape (hexagonal column shape in consideration of the insulating film width) divided by a partition that is formed of the insulating films2including two bonding portions5opposed to each other at an interval. That is, the elastic flexible substrate1of the first embodiment includes the insulating base material3in a honeycomb structure with a tight arrangement of the plurality of substantially hexagonal column-shaped openings6surrounded by the partitions that include the opposed bonding portions5. When a force is exerted on the insulating base material3thus configured, so as to elongate the insulating base material3in a direction parallel to a horizontal plane orthogonal to axes of the hexagonal column-shaped openings6, the insulating base material3can be expanded/contracted in a direction corresponding to the exerted force as described above, but no force is exerted in the axial direction of the openings6at that time. This enables the elastic flexible substrate1to be expanded/contracted without causing a twist in the elastic flexible substrate1.

Examples of the insulating film base material2include a polyimide resin, PET resin, PEN resin, or liquid crystal polymer, or a combination thereof. The “wire4” generally forms a conductor circuit. There is no specific limitation on a material of the wire4, provided that the material has conductivity. Examples of the material of the wire4may include a metal material such as gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), chrome (Cr), cobalt (Co), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), platinum (Pt), molybdenum (Mo), iron (Fe), and/or zinc (Zn) or a conductive oxide material such as zinc oxide (ZnO), tin oxide (SnO2), indium tin oxide (ITO), fluorine-containing zinc oxide (FTO), ruthenium oxide (RuO2), iridium oxide (IrO2), and platinum oxide (PtO2), and further, a conductive polymer material such as polythiophene and polyaniline materials.

In the first embodiment, for example, as illustrated inFIG. 2A, the bonding portion5has two insulating films2bonded through the adhesive7. When an adhesive bonding method is adopted in this way, the wire on one of the insulating films2bonded in the bonding portion5and the wire on the other insulating film2may be electrically bonded, or may be bonded in an electrically separated manner. For example,FIG. 2Aillustrates an example in which the insulating films2are bonded while the wires are electrically separated, andFIG. 2Cillustrates an example in which the insulating films2are bonded while the wires are electrically connected.

As illustrated inFIG. 2B, in the opening6between the bonding portions5, the wire on one of the insulating films2forming the opening6and the wire on the other insulating film2are electrically separated.

The surfaces of the wires on the insulating films2forming the opening6may be covered with an insulating protective material.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide the elastic flexible substrate1that can be extended in two directions orthogonal to each other and in any direction other than the two directions.

Next, an elastic flexible substrate1A of a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

FIG. 3is a partial schematic plan view of the elastic flexible substrate1A of the second embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 4Ais an enlarged schematic plan view of an insulating film22awith the wire4.FIG. 4Bis an enlarged schematic plan view of an insulating film21bwith the wire4.

The elastic flexible substrate1A of the second embodiment of the present disclosure is different from the first embodiment in that the elastic flexible substrate1A is configured with an insulating base material3A formed of two types of insulating films each different from the insulating films in the first embodiment. The elastic flexible substrate1A is, however, similar to the first embodiment in that a plurality of insulating films are bonded such that the bonding portions5between adjacent insulating films are staggered.

The two types of insulating films for use in the second embodiment will now be described. In the second embodiment, one of the two types of insulating films is referred to as a first insulating film22aand the other is referred to as a second insulating film21b.

In the second embodiment, as illustrated inFIG. 4A, the first insulating film22ais a ribbon-shaped insulating film having the wire4disposed on a first principal surface81, a constant width, and a length that is sufficiently long in a longitudinal direction with respect to the width. The first insulating film22ais folded along the center line orthogonal to the longitudinal direction while a second principal surface82opposed to the first principal surface81faces inward, and the opposed portions of the second principal surface82are bonded together through an adhesive layer11. In the first insulating film22a, the wire4is disposed on the first principal surface81as illustrated inFIG. 4A. In the first insulating film22a, the wire4is disposed on the first principal surface81along the longitudinal direction of the insulating film.

In the second embodiment, as illustrated inFIG. 4B, the second insulating film21bis a ribbon planar insulating film having a width twice the width of the first insulating film22aand a length that is sufficiently long in a longitudinal direction with respect to the width. The second insulating film21bis folded along the center line parallel to the longitudinal direction while the second principal surface82opposed to the first principal surface81faces inward, and the opposed portions of the second principal surface82are bonded together through the adhesive layer11. In the second insulating film21b, the wire4is disposed on the first principal surface81as illustrated inFIG. 4B.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the first insulating film22ais folded along the central axis orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the first insulating film22asuch that the first principal surface81faces outward and the second principal surface82faces inward. The second insulating film21bis folded along the central axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the second insulating film21bsuch that the first principal surface81faces outward and the second principal surface82faces inward. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this; an elastic flexible substrate may be configured with a plurality of first insulating films22awithout using the second insulating film21b, or may be configured with a plurality of second insulating films21bwithout using the first insulating film22a.

Next, an elastic flexible substrate1B of a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

FIG. 5is a partial schematic plan view of the elastic flexible substrate1B of the third embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 6is an enlarged schematic plan view of an insulating film21A with the wire4.

The elastic flexible substrate1B of the third embodiment of the present disclosure is different from the first embodiment in that the elastic flexible substrate1B is configured with an insulating base material3B configured with insulating films different from the insulating films in the first embodiment. The elastic flexible substrate1B is, however, similar to the first embodiment in that a plurality of insulating films21A are bonded such that the bonding portions5between adjacent insulating films are staggered. As illustrated inFIG. 5, in the plurality of insulating films21A forming the insulating base material3B, the wires4are disposed on the inner and outer principal surfaces of each insulating film21A.

In the third embodiment, in the insulating film21A, the wires4formed on both principal surfaces are connected through a through connection via12provided to penetrate the insulating film21A, as illustrated inFIG. 6. That is, the wire4disposed on one principal surface is connected to one end of the through connection via12, and the wire4disposed on the other principal surface is connected to the other end of the through connection via12. This can make an electrical connection between the wires4disposed on both principal surfaces.

The above elastic flexible substrates of the first to third embodiments are configured with a plurality of insulating films. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this; for example, instead of splitting the plurality of insulating films in the first embodiment, a single long insulating base material3may be bent and folded more than once, thereby forming bonding portions5between adjacent portions of the insulating base material3as in the first embodiment or the like.

The elastic flexible substrate of the present disclosure may be configured by retaining, for example, any of the insulating base materials described in the first to third embodiments within an insulating member. Any insulating member may be used, provided that the insulating member has an insulating property and an expandable or contractible property. Examples of the insulating member include a silicone resin, urethane based resin, vinyl resin, styrene resin, and the like. For example, a silicone resin, which has an excellent expandable or contractible property, may be used. For example, if an insulating base material is retained within an insulating member, part of the wire4may be exposed from the insulating member. An electronic device may further be disposed on the wire4disposed on the insulating base material3. There is no specific limitation on location where sensor elements are arranged. To improve connection reliability, however, the sensor elements can be arranged in the film bonding portions5that are less susceptible to stress change when the substrate is expanded/contracted. For example, the insulating base material3is preferably transparent to visible light.

The “electronic device” here generally forms an electronic component. Therefore, any type of electronic device may be used, provided that the electronic device is an electronic component for use in general flexible substrate fields. For example, the electronic device may be a semiconductor device, sensor that detects temperature and pressure, or actuator.

The “semiconductor device” here substantially means a luminescence element, light-receiving element, diode, transistor, and the like. If a luminescence element is used, a highly expandable or contractible display can be realized. If an actuator is used, a massage cloth capable of vibrating any point can be realized. Other specific examples of the electronic device may include an IC (control IC, for example), inductor, capacitor, power device, chip resistor, chip capacitor, chip varistor, chip thermistor, any other chip-like multilayer filter, connection terminal, and the like.

<Elastic Flexible Substrate Manufacturing Method of the Present Disclosure>

An elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method of one embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described.

The manufacturing method of the first embodiment for the elastic flexible substrate1of the present disclosure will first be described. The elastic flexible substrate1of the present disclosure may be manufactured through steps below. It should be noted that the insulating films2for use in this embodiment are components of the insulating base material3.

(Step of Disposing a Wire on an Insulating Film)

First, dispose the wire4on one principal surface of the planar insulating film2.

(Step of Making a Plurality of Insulating Films Mutually Opposed)

Next, as illustrated in the upper diagram ofFIG. 7, make the plurality of insulating films2with the wires4mutually opposed.

(Step of Forming Bonding Portions)

Next, as illustrated in the lower diagram ofFIG. 7, “surface-bond” at least two mutually opposed insulating films2with the wires, at a plurality of places at intervals, thereby forming the bonding portions5. The wires are omitted inFIG. 7. The opening6is formed between each pair of bonding portions5at that time. In any bonding portion5, the wires disposed on adjacent insulating films2may be brought into mutual contact and electrically connected. The elastic flexible substrate1of one embodiment of the present disclosure is thus obtained. In the above manufacturing method of the first embodiment, instead of using the slender insulating films2, a large-sized insulating film may be used in which a plurality of insulating films2are integrated. Wires corresponding to the individual insulating films2may be formed, portions of the large-sized insulating film may be opposed to each other to form bonding portions5at desired places, and then the insulating film may be split, thereby obtaining individual elastic flexible substrates1of the present disclosure.

The manufacturing method of the second embodiment for the elastic flexible substrate of the present disclosure will next be described.

The elastic flexible substrate1A of the present disclosure may be manufactured through steps below.

(Step of Disposing a Wire on an Insulating Base Material)

First, dispose the wire4on one principal surface of the insulating film22aor21b.

(Step of Bending the Insulating Base Material with the Wire)

As illustrated inFIG. 4A, the insulating film22ais a ribbon-shaped insulating film having the wire4disposed on the first principal surface81, a constant width, and a length that is sufficiently long in a longitudinal direction with respect to the width. The insulating film22ais folded along the center line orthogonal to the longitudinal direction while the second principal surface82opposed to the first principal surface81faces inward, and the opposed portions of the second principal surface82are bonded together through the adhesive layer11. As illustrated inFIG. 4B, the insulating film21bis a ribbon planar insulating film, which is folded along the center line parallel to a longitudinal direction while the second principal surface82opposed to the first principal surface81faces inward, and the opposed portions of the second principal surface82are bonded together through the adhesive layer11.

(Step of Forming Bonding Portions)

Next, as in the upper diagram ofFIG. 7, make the plurality of insulating films22aor21bwith the wires mutually opposed.

Next, as in the lower diagram ofFIG. 7, “surface-bond” at least two mutually opposed insulating films22aor21bwith the wires, at a plurality of places at intervals, thereby forming the bonding portions5. The wires4are omitted inFIG. 7. The opening6is formed between each pair of bonding portions5at that time. In any bonding portion5, the wires4disposed on adjacent insulating films22aor21bare brought into mutual contact and electrically connected. The elastic flexible substrate1A of one embodiment of the present disclosure is thus obtained.

Although the elastic flexible substrate of one embodiment of the present disclosure and the manufacturing method thereof have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to this; it will be understood that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure defined in the following claims.

Example

An example using an elastic flexible substrate of one embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described. Specifically, a description is given of an embodiment in which an electrical-resistance strain gauge is connected to the elastic flexible substrate1A of the second embodiment of the present disclosure so as to form a passive matrix.

First, as illustrated inFIG. 8, an X-direction wire41and a Y-direction wire42were disposed on one principal surface of each of three planar polyimide films (dimensions: 10 mm×100 mm×thickness of 50 μm) to be used as the insulating films21b. A strain gauge and a diode were disposed as electronic devices13on the wires disposed in the X- and Y-directions. Then, each polyimide film was bent with the other principal surface of the polyimide film facing inward, and the opposed portions of the other principal surface of the polyimide film were bonded together by an adhesive.

Next, the three polyimide films with the X-direction wires41and the Y-direction wires42were made mutually opposed. Then, the three mutually opposed polyimide films with the X-direction wires41and the Y-direction wires42were surface-bonded at a plurality of places at intervals, thereby forming the bonding portions5. The opening6was then formed between each pair of bonding portions5. In each bonding portion5, the wires4disposed on adjacent polyimide films were electrically connected through an electrode pad14. At that time, to improve connection reliability, the electrode pad was bonded using a conductive adhesive.

The electrical-resistance strain gauge was thus electrically connected to the elastic flexible substrate1A of the second embodiment of the present disclosure so as to form a passive matrix.

The present disclosure includes the following aspects.

A flexible substrate of one aspect of the present disclosure includes an insulating base material and a wire disposed on the insulating base material. The insulating base material has a plurality of bonding portions that are surface-bonded, and openings are formed between the bonding portions.

According to the above aspect, in the elastic flexible substrate of the present disclosure, an insulating film base material, which is a component of the elastic flexible substrate, includes a plurality of bonding portions that are “surface-bonded” and openings are formed between the bonding portions. Therefore, an expanding/contracting direction is not limited to one direction and a twist does not occur.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the insulating base material may be configured with a plurality of insulating films. In the plurality of bonding portions, one of the adjacently arranged insulating films and the other insulating film may be bonded at a plurality of places at intervals.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the bonding portions may be surface-bonded through an adhesive.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the insulating base material may have two principal surfaces, the insulating base material may include the wire on each of the two principal surfaces, and the wire disposed on one principal surface of the two principal surfaces and the wire disposed on the other principal surface may be interconnected through a connection via provided in the insulating base material.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the insulating base material may have a first principal surface and a second principal surface, the insulating base material may include the wire on the first principal surface, and the insulating base material may be bent with the second principal surface facing inward, thereby bonding the opposed portions of the second principal surface through an adhesive layer.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the insulating base material may be bent along a longitudinal direction of the insulating base material or a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction.

For example, the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect may further include a second wire, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the wire and the second wire may be electrically connected in the bonding portions.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the bonding portions may serve as partitions that divide the adjacent openings.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the wire arranged in a first direction and the wire arranged in a second direction that is different from the first direction may be disposed on the insulating base material.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, an electronic device may be disposed on the wire, and the electronic device may be electrically connected to the wire.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the electronic device may be at least one selected from the group consisting of a semiconductor device, a sensor element, and an actuator.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate of the above aspect, the insulating base material may be transparent to visible light.

An elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes (i) disposing a wire on an insulating base material and (ii) forming bonding portions that are surface-bonded at a plurality of places at intervals in the insulating base material with the wire.

For example, the elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method according to the above aspect may further include bending the insulating base material with the wire between the steps of (i) and (ii).

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method according to the above aspect, at the step of (ii), mutually opposed portions of the bent insulating base material with the wire may be surface-bonded at intervals.

For example, the elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method according to the above aspect may further include making a plurality of insulating films forming the insulating base material mutually opposed and surface-bonding one of the adjacent insulating films and the other insulating film at a plurality of places at intervals.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method according to the above aspect, an opening may be formed between the bonding portions.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method according to the above aspect, the wires disposed on the insulating base material may be brought into mutual contact and electrically connected in the bonding portions.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method according to the above aspect, at the step of (i), the wires disposed on both principal surfaces of the insulating base material may be interconnected using a connection via.

For example, in the elastic flexible substrate manufacturing method according to the above aspect, at the step of (i), the wire may be disposed on a first principal surface of the insulating base material, the insulating base material may be bent with a second principal surface of the insulating base material facing inward, and then mutually opposed portions of the second principal surface of the insulating base material may be bonded together using an adhesive.

The elastic flexible substrate of the present disclosure can be used as an expandable or contractible circuit board.