Shield installed on printed circuit board

A shield is provided. The shield includes a shield frame surrounding an electronic component mounted on a printed circuit board and a shield cover partially coupled to the shield frame. The shield frame includes a column part mounted on the printed circuit board and a bending part bent from an upper end portion of the column part. An angle between both end portions of the bending part is smaller than about 90 degrees.

The present application is related to and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on Sep. 2, 2014 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial number 10-2014-0116323, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a shield surrounding at least one electronic component mounted on a printed circuit board.

BACKGROUND

As the technology advances, in recent, various electronic devices having a variety of functions have been suggested. For instance, a user listens to music using an MP3 player and takes a picture using a digital camera. In addition, the user makes a phone call or sends a message to another user using a mobile phone, e.g., a smart phone.

Each electronic device includes a printed circuit board therein and electronic components are mounted on the printed circuit board. However, in the case where the electronic devices are operated, interference occurs between the electronic components. Accordingly, a shield process is required to shield the electronic components.

SUMMARY

To address the above-discussed deficiencies, it is a primary object to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a shield that surrounds at least one electronic component and to reduce a volume of the shield.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a shield is provided. The shield includes a shield frame configured to surround an electronic component mounted on a printed circuit board and a shield cover partially coupled to the shield. The shield frame includes a column part mounted on the printed circuit board and a bending part bent from an upper end portion of the column part. An angle between both end portions of the bending part is smaller than about 90 degrees.

According to the various embodiments, the shield reduces the volume thereof, and thus the secured space due to the reduction in volume of the shield is used in various ways.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A through 5, discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged device. Various embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to accompanying drawings. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that modification, equivalent, and/or alternative on the various embodiments described herein can be variously made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. With regard to description of drawings, similar components are marked by similar reference numerals.

The term “include,” “comprise,” “including,” or “comprising” used herein indicates disclosed functions, operations, or existence of elements but does not exclude other functions, operations or elements. It should be further understood that the term “include,” “comprise,” “have,” “including,” “comprising”, or “having” used herein specifies the presence of stated features, integers, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

The meaning of the term “or” or “at least one of A and/or B” used herein includes any combination of words listed together with the term. For example, the expression “A or B” or “at least one of A and/or B” indicates A, B, or both A and B.

The terms, such as “first,” “second,” and the like used herein refer to various elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, but do not limit the elements. For example, such terms do not limit the order and/or priority of the elements. Furthermore, such terms is used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, “a first electronic device” and “a second electronic device” indicate different electronic devices. For example, without departing the scope of the present disclosure, a first element is referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element is referred to as a first element.

In the description below, when one part (or element, device, etc.) is referred to as being “connected” to another part (or element, device, etc.), it should be understood that the former can be “directly connected” to the latter, or “electrically connected” to the latter via an intervening part (or element, device, etc.). It will be further understood that when one component is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly linked” to another component, it means that no intervening component is present.

Terms used in this specification are used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The terms of a singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified.

Unless otherwise defined herein, all the terms used herein, which include technical or scientific terms, include the same meaning that is generally understood by a person skilled in the art. It will be further understood that terms, which are defined in a dictionary and commonly used, should also be interpreted as is customary in the relevant related art and not in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein in various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Electronic devices according to various embodiments of the present disclosure include a shield that will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 1 to 5. For example, the electronic devices includes at least one of smart phones, smart pads, tablet personal computers (PCs), mobile phones, video phones, electronic book readers, desktop PCs, laptop PCs, netbook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable multimedia players (PMPs), Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG-1 or MPEG-2) Audio Layer 3 (MP3) players, mobile medical devices, cameras, wearable devices (e.g., head-mounted-devices (HMDs), such as electronic glasses), electronic apparels, electronic bracelets, electronic necklaces, electronic appcessories, smart watches, or the like.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronic devices are smart home appliances including a shield. The smart home appliances includes at least one of, for example, televisions (TVs), digital versatile disc (DVD) players, audios, refrigerators, air conditioners, cleaners, ovens, microwave ovens, washing machines, air cleaners, set-top boxes, TV boxes (e.g., SAMSUNG HOMESYNC, APPLE TV, or GOOGLE TV), game consoles, digital signage (e.g., a smart mirror), humanoid robots, electronic dictionaries, electronic keys, camcorders, electronic picture frames, or the like.

In addition, the electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is, but not limited to, a flexible device. The electronic device according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure should not be limited to the above-mentioned devices.

Hereinafter, the electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 1 to 5. In the following description, the term of a “user” is referred to as a person or a device (e.g., an artificial intelligent electronic device) who or which uses the electronic device.

FIG. 1Ais an exploded perspective view showing a printed circuit board10and a shield100according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 1Bis a perspective view showing the shield100coupled to the printed circuit board10ofFIG. 1according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIGS. 1A and 1B, an electronic device includes the printed circuit board10, an electronic component20mounted on the printed circuit board10, and the shield100. In certain embodiments, the printed circuit board10includes a flexible printed circuit board. In addition, only one electronic component10is mounted on the printed circuit board10as shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B, but two or more electronic components is mounted on the printed circuit board10. Accordingly, a plurality of shields is mounted on the printed circuit board10.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the shield100includes a shield frame110and a shield cover120.

The shield frame110is disposed on the printed circuit board10. In addition, the shield frame110surrounds the electronic component20. The shield frame110includes an opening formed therethrough to surround the electronic component20. In certain embodiments, the shield frame110includes an inner surface area wider than a surface area of the electric component20and a height greater than a height of the electronic component20.

The shield cover120is disposed to cover the shield frame110. In certain embodiments, since a height of the shield cover120is smaller than the height of the shield frame110, the shield cover120have a shape to cover only an upper portion of the shield frame110in the case where the shield cover120is installed at the shield frame110. However, according to various embodiments, the height of the shield cover120is substantially equal to the height of the shield frame110.

Although not shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B, the shield cover120is coupled to the shield frame110to prevent the shield cover120from being easily separated from the shield frame110covered by the shield cover120.

Referring toFIGS. 1A and 1B, one shield100covers one electronic component20mounted on the printed circuit board10, but one shield100covers two or more electronic components according to various embodiments.

In addition, the shield100shown inFIG. 1Aincludes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, however the shield100includes various shapes in accordance with a shape of the electronic component20or an arrangement of the electronic components20surrounded by the shield100.

Further, the shield frame110is disposed on the printed circuit board10after the electronic component20is mounted on the printed circuit board10, however the electronic component20is mounted on the printed circuit board10after the shield frame110is disposed on the printed circuit board10.

Hereinafter, a structure of the shield100will be described in detail with reference toFIG. 2.

FIG. 2is a view showing a shield100according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 2shows a cross-sectional view taken along cross-section line X-Y inFIG. 1B. Referring toFIG. 2, a shield frame110includes a column part112, a bending part114, and an extending part116. A shield cover120includes an upper plate part122, a sidewall part124, and a protruding part126.

The column part112of the shield frame110is disposed on a printed circuit board10. For instance, a lower end portion of the column part112is disposed on the printed circuit board10such that a pad30disposed on the printed circuit board10is disposed between the printed circuit board10and the column part112. In certain embodiments, the pad30includes a solder mask defined (SMD) pad, a non-solder mask define (NSMD) pad, etc.

However, a predetermined distance W1exists between the pad30and the electronic component20since a solder ball is soldered on the pad30. This is to prevent the solder ball from making contact with the electronic component20. In certain embodiments, the predetermined distance W1is about 0.3 mm. Therefore, since the column part112is spaced apart from the electronic component20by a sum of the distance W1and a distance W2, the column part112is spaced apart from the electronic component20by the distance equal to or greater than about 0.3 mm.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the column part112is directly coupled to the printed circuit board10without the pad30by vertically disposing the column part112on the printed circuit board10.

The bending part114of the shield frame110is bent from an upper end portion of the column part112. For instance, the bending part114is bent from the upper end portion of the column part112, which is opposite to the lower end portion of the column part112disposed on the printed circuit board10or the pad30, while extending outward from the upper end portion of the column part112. In certain embodiments, an angle between both end portions of the bending part114is smaller than 90 degrees.FIG. 2shows that the angle between the both end portions of the bending part114is 0 degree, however according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the angle between the both end portions of the bending part114is an acute angle exceeding 0 degrees and smaller than 90 degrees. In addition, according to other various embodiments of the present disclosure, the bending part114is much more bent toward the column part112than the bending part114shown inFIG. 2, and thus a lower end portion of the extending portion116is disposed adjacent to or make contacts with the column part112.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the bending part114is bent from the upper end portion of the column part112while extending inward from the upper end portion of the column part112along a direction from the column part112to the electronic component20. This will be described in detail below with reference toFIG. 3.

The extending part116of the shield frame110extends from the other end portion of the bending part114, which is opposite to one end portion of the bending part114bent from the column part112. In certain embodiments, a direction in which the extending part116extends depends on a direction to which the other end of the bending part114faces. For example, in the case where the bending part114is bent such that the angle between the both ends of the bending part114becomes about 0 degree, the extending part116extends in the direction toward the printed circuit board10to allow the extending part116to be substantially parallel to the column part112as shown inFIG. 2. If the bending part114is bent such that the angle between the both ends of the bending part114becomes about 45 degrees, the extending part116extends in a direction inclined at about 45 degrees with respect to the column part112.

The upper plate part122of the shield cover120is, but not limited to, a flat plate and at least a portion of the upper plate part122is placed on the bending part114. In certain embodiments, the bending part114includes a predetermined width W3to prevent flatness of the upper plate part122from being degraded due to the portion of the upper plate part122placed on the bending part114. The width W3is about 0.4 mm.

The upper plate part122is located at a predetermined height h1from the electronic component20to prevent an operation of the electronic component20from being influenced by the operation of the other electronic components, or vice versa. The height h1is about 0.2 mm. For similar reasons, the upper plate part122is placed on the bending part114of the shield frame110without a separation from all the portions of the bending part114of the shield frame110.

The sidewall part124of the shield cover120extends toward the printed circuit board10from an edge of the upper plate part122. InFIG. 2, the sidewall part124extends at a right angle from the upper plate part122. However, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the sidewall part124extends from the upper plate part122to have a curved surface with an arc shape.

The sidewall part124is disposed to surround the shield frame110. For instance, the sidewall part124is disposed to surround the extending part116of the shield frame110. Referring toFIG. 2, the sidewall part124and the extending part116is slightly spaced apart from each other, but they should not be limited there to or thereby. That is, the sidewall part124and the extending part116make contact with each other according to another embodiment.

The protruding part126of the shield cover120is protruded inward from the sidewall part124toward the shield frame110. The sidewall part126is disposed at a position to be engaged with the lower end portion of the extending part116. Since the bending part114includes the curved surface having the arc shape rather than a flat shape, the protruding part126moves downward along the extending part116after sliding on the curved surface of the bending part114, and thus the protruding part126is engaged with the lower end portion of the extending part116.

As shown inFIG. 2, the protruding part126is protruded from an edge of the sidewall part124. However, according to various embodiments, the protruding part126is located at a predetermined position spaced apart from the lower end portion of the sidewall part124. This will be described in detail later with reference toFIG. 3. As another way, the protruding part126is formed in a band shape continuously in a direction substantially parallel to the printed circuit board10when viewed from the entire surface of the shield cover120rather than one cross-sectional surface of the shield cover120, or is formed in a discontinuous dot-like pattern in the direction substantially parallel to the printed circuit board10.

The protruding part126is located at a predetermined height h2from an upper surface of the printed circuit board10. Although not shown inFIG. 2, the solder ball soldered on the pad30exists on the pad30and the solder ball soldered on the pad30includes a predetermined height. Accordingly, in the case where the height of the solder ball is not considered, the protruding part126may not be properly engaged with the lower end portion of the extending part116due to the solder ball. Similarly, the extending part116includes a length determined to allow the protruding part126to be located at the predetermined height h2from the upper surface of the printed circuit board10. According to various embodiments, different from the protruding part126, the lower end portion of the sidewall part124is located at a position lower than the protruding part126since the sidewall part124is not disposed directly adjacent to the pad30. However, in the case where the height of the sidewall part124is higher than the height of the shield frame110, the lower end portion of the sidewall part124is required to make contact with the printed circuit board10or to be located at a predetermined height from the printed circuit board10since the upper plate part122is spaced apart from the bending part114.

FIG. 3is a view showing a shield300according to other various embodiments of the present disclosure. Similar to the shield100shown inFIG. 2, the shield300shown inFIG. 3includes a shield frame310and a shield cover320. In addition, the shield frame310includes a column part312, a bending part314, an extending part316, and a recess part318and the shield cover320includes an upper plate part322, a sidewall part324, and a protruding part326. InFIG. 3, the same reference numerals denote the same elements inFIG. 2, and thus detailed descriptions of the same elements will be omitted.

The bending part314of the shield frame310is bent from an upper end portion of the column part312while extending inward from the upper end portion of the column part312along a direction from the column part312to the electronic component20. Therefore, the extending part316of the shield frame310, which extends from the bending part314, is disposed between the column part312and the electronic component20.

In the embodiment shown inFIG. 3, since the extending part316is disposed at an inner side than the pad30, the protruding part326of the shield cover320may not be engaged with the column part312or the extending part316. Thus, the shield frame310further includes the recess part318formed by recessing a portion of the column part312. In certain embodiments, the recess part312includes a shape corresponding to a shape of the protruding part326.

In addition, since the extending part316is disposed at an inner side than the pad30, a distance w between the extending part316and the electronic component20may not need to be considered. Accordingly, when compared with the shield100shown inFIG. 2, the distance w (e.g., about 0.3 mm) between the shield frame310and the electronic component20is shorter than that of the shield100shown inFIG. 2.

The sidewall part324of the shield cover320is located at a predetermined height h2from an upper surface of the printed circuit board10. Since the extending part316is disposed at an inner side than the pad30, the sidewall part324is disposed adjacent to the column part312, and thus the sidewall part324is disposed adjacent to the pad30. Similar to the descriptions with reference toFIG. 2, the solder ball soldered on the pad30comprises the predetermined height, and thus the sidewall part324is located at the predetermined height h2from the upper surface of the printed circuit board10to allow the shied cover320to be properly coupled to the shield frame310.

As described above, the protruding part326of the shield cover320is engaged with the recess part318. Similarly, the protruding part126of the shield cover120shown inFIG. 2is engaged with a recess part (not shown) formed in the extending part116rather than the lower end portion of the extending part116.

According toFIG. 3, the protruding part326is engaged with the recess part318from the outside of the column part312to reach an inner portion of the column part312, but it should not be limited thereto or thereby. The protruding part326is engaged with the column part312to reach a center portion of the column part312(refer toFIG. 4) or a portion of the protruding part326penetrates through the column part312. For this end, the recess part318includes a hole formed therethrough.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the column part312includes a protruding part (not shown) and the sidewall part326includes a recess part (not shown). In certain embodiments, the protruding part of the column part312is engaged with the recess part of the sidewall part326, and thus the shield cover320is fixed to the shield frame310.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the bending part114is bent two times. Hereinafter, the embodiment in which the bending part114is bent two times will be described in detail with reference toFIG. 4.

FIG. 4is a view showing a shield400according to other various embodiments of the present disclosure. The shield400shown inFIG. 4includes a shield frame410and a shield cover420. InFIG. 4, the same reference numerals denote the same elements inFIGS. 2 and 3, and thus detailed descriptions of the same elements will be omitted.

The shield frame410includes a bending part bent two times or more. For the convenience of explanation, a part, which is firstly bent, is referred to as a first bending part414and a part, which is secondary bent, is referred to as a second bending part416.

The first bending part414is bent inward from an upper end portion of the column part412. In addition, the second bending part416is bent toward the column part412after the second bending part416extends inward from the first bending part414.

In certain embodiments, a distance W1, e.g., about 0.3 mm, between the shield frame410and the electronic component20is measured from one end portion of the second bending part416disposed at an innermost position of the shield frame410.

In addition, the bending part including the first and second bending parts414and416has a thickness W2of about 0.5 mm.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the second bending part416is directly bent from the column part412without extending from the first bending part414. In certain embodiments, the shield frame410, according to the present embodiment shown inFIG. 4, corresponds to the shield frame110shown inFIG. 2.

In addition, as a difference between the shield300shown inFIG. 3and the shield400shown inFIG. 4, the protruding part426reaches the center portion of the column part412.

FIG. 5is a view showing a conventional shield500. Referring toFIG. 5, the shields100,300, and400described with reference toFIGS. 1 to 4according to various embodiments of the present disclosure are realized on the printed circuit board10in a relatively small space compared with the shield500shown inFIG. 5.

The conventional shield500includes a column part similar to that of the shield100shown inFIG. 2. However, both end portions of a bending part of the shield500are formed to have an angle of about 90 degrees and an extending part extends inward from the bending part. In certain embodiments, a shield cover520is supported by the bending part and the extending part. The bending part and the extending part have a predetermined length w3of about 0.8 mm, which is obtained by adding a length of the bending part to a length of the extending part in order to maintain flatness of the shield frame510. Accordingly, the conventional shield500requires much more space than the shields according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, and thus the space for the shield500is wasted.

In addition, since the length obtained by adding the length of the bending part to the length of the extending part is relatively longer than that of the shields according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the extending part is spaced apart from an upper portion of an electronic component20by a predetermined distance h1while covering the upper portion of the electronic component20. Therefore, in case of the conventional shield500, the space corresponding to a thickness h2of the extending part is wasted.

Each of the above-mentioned elements of the electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is configured with one or more components, and the names of the elements are changed according to the type of the electronic device. The electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure includes at least one of the above-mentioned elements, and some elements are omitted or other additional elements are added. Furthermore, some of the elements of the electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure are combined with each other so as to form one entity, so that the functions of the elements are performed in the same manner as before the combination.