Abstract:
An exemplary mounting support for a flexible printed circuit board is provided. The flexible printed circuit board has a side surface and at least one electronic component mounted on the side surface. The mounting support includes a first surface for contacting with the side surface of the flexible printed circuit board and a second surface on an opposite side of the mounting support to the first surface. The mounting support has at least one first recess defined in the first surface for receiving the at least one electronic component therein and at least one through-hole defined through the first surface and the second surface. The mounting support has at least one second recess defined in the second surface. The mounting support can fix a double surface mounted flexible printed circuit board flatly, thereby enhancing laser processing precision.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to an mounting support for a flexible printed circuit board and a retaining apparatus having the mounting support. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Nowadays, electronic products have achieved ever greater levels of miniaturization in volume and diversification in function. Correspondingly, flexible printed circuit boards used in these electronic products have become smaller and smaller, and more and more complicated. 
     For the convenience of manufacturing, a flexible printed circuit board in a manufacturing process generally is classified into multiple electrical trace units. Each of electrical trace units belongs to a flexible printed circuit board unit. Thus, multiple flexible printed circuit board units can be manufactured simultaneously. After the flexible printed circuit board is manufactured and various electronic components are mounted thereon, laser processing such as a laser cutting is performed so as to separate the multiple flexible printed circuit board units according to the electrical trace units. Because the flexible printed circuit board is flexible and light in weight, the flexible printed circuit board can be held in place using a vacuum device of laser processing apparatus. Then, a laser beam produced by the laser processing apparatus cuts the flexible printed circuit board according to the electrical trace units, thereby separating the flexible printed circuit board into the multiple flexible printed circuit board units. 
     In order to ensure stable positioning under vacuum suction of the flexible printed circuit board onto the vacuum device, a contact surface of the flexible printed circuit board to be sucked by the vacuum device must be adequately flat. However, when the flexible printed circuit board is a double surface mounted flexible printed circuit board (i.e., two opposite surfaces of the flexible printed circuit board have electronic components mounted thereon), each of the two surfaces of the flexible printed circuit boards is unsmooth due to the electronic components mounted thereon. Thus, the double surface mounted flexible printed circuit board cannot be fixed on the vacuum device stably, thereby affecting laser processing precision. Furthermore, when the double surface mounted flexible printed circuit board is fixed on the vacuum device directly, the electronic components mounted may be damaged and/or removed. 
     What is needed, therefore, is a mounting support that is capable of retaining a double surface mounted flexible printed circuit board to process using a laser beam. 
     SUMMARY 
     One preferred embodiment provides a mounting support for retaining a flexible printed circuit board. The flexible printed circuit board has a side surface and at least one electronic component mounted on the side surface. The mounting support includes a first surface for contacting with the side surface of the flexible printed circuit board and a second surface on an opposite side of the mounting support to the first surface. The mounting support has at least one first recess defined in the first surface for receiving the at least one electronic component therein and at least one through-hole penetrating the first surface and the second surface. The mounting support has at least one second recess defined in the second surface. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the present embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a double surface mounted flexible printed circuit board; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a mounting support for retaining a flexible printed circuit board according to a first exemplary preferred embodiment, which mainly shows a first surface of the mounting support; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of the mounting support of  FIG. 2 , which mainly shows a second surface of the mounting support; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic, cross-sectional view of the mounting support of  FIG. 2  as viewed along line IV-IV; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic, cross-sectional view of an apparatus including the mounting support of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view of a mounting support for retaining a flexible printed circuit board according to a second exemplary preferred embodiment, which mainly shows a second surface of the mounting support; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view of a mounting support for retaining a flexible printed circuit board according to a third exemplary preferred embodiment, which mainly shows a second surface of the mounting support; and 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view of a mounting support for retaining a flexible printed circuit board according to a fourth exemplary preferred embodiment, which mainly shows a second surface of the mounting support. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments will now be described in detail below and with reference to the drawings. 
     In  FIG. 1 , a flexible printed circuit board  10  is shown. The flexible circuit board  10  is a double surface mounted flexible printed circuit board. The flexible printed circuit board  10  includes a first mounting surface  101  and an opposite second mounting surface  102 . The first mounting surface  101  has a number of first electronic components  103  mounted thereon. The second mounting surface  102  has a number of second electronic components  104  mounted thereon. The first electronic components  103  can be different from the second electronic components  104 . Each of the first electronic components  103  can be different and each of the second electronic components  104  can also be different. For purpose of illustration only, the first electronic components  103  in the present embodiment have a rectangular parallelepiped configuration, and the second electronic components  104  have a cylindrical configuration. It is understood that the first electronic components  103  and the second electronic components  104  may have other shapes. 
     In  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 4 , a mounting support  100  for retaining the flexible printed circuit board  10  is shown. The mounting support  100  can be designed to come into contact with the first mounting surface  101  having the first electronic components  103  mounted thereon, or to come into contact with the second mounting surface  102  having the second electronic components  104  mounted thereon. In the first exemplary preferred embodiment, the mounting support  100  is designed to come into contact with the first mounting surface  101  having the first electronic components  103  mounted thereon. 
     The mounting support  100  is board-shaped. The mounting support  100  can be made of metals, such as copper, aluminum, iron and alloys thereof, or organic composites such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), etc. In the first preferred embodiment, the mounting support  100  is an aluminum board with flat surfaces, i.e., a first surface  110  and a second surface  120  on an opposite side of the mounting support  100 . The first surface  110  is parallel to the second surface  120 . 
     The mounting support  100  has a number of first recesses  112  and a number of through-holes  113  defined in the first surface  110 . The first recesses  112  are configured for receiving the first electronic components  103  mounted on the first mounting surface  101  of the flexible printed circuit board  10 . Each of the first recesses  112  corresponds to one of the first electronic components  103 . Dimension, configuration and distribution of the first recesses  112  are mated with that of the first electronic components  103  mounted on the flexible printed circuit board  10 . Advantageously, for the convenience of placing and taking the first electronic components  103 , the size of the first recesses  112  can be a little larger than that of the first electronic components  103 . In the first preferred embodiment, each of the first recesses  112  has a rectangular parallelepiped configuration so as to receive the first electronic components  103  with a rectangular parallelepiped configuration. 
     The through-holes  113  are defined through the first surface  110  and the second surface  120 . The through-holes  113  may be defined at any position other than the first recesses  112 . The though-holes  113  may have a cross-section of circular, square, rectangular, or other irregular shape. In the first exemplary preferred embodiment, a cross-section of each of the though-holes  113  taken normal to the second surface  120  is circular. Each of the through-holes  113  is located adjacent to the respective first recesses  112 . Advantageously, the through-holes  113  are arranged so as to surround the first recesses  113  uniformly on the first surface  110 . 
     The mounting support  100  has a second recess  122  defined in the second surface  120 . The second recess  122  may be located at a desired position. A cross-section of the second recess  122  taken normal to the second surface  120  may be circular, square, rectangular, annular or other irregular shape. A sum of a depth of the second recess  122  and a depth of any one of the first recess  112  should be less than a distance from the first surface  110  to the second surface  120  of the mounting support  100  in order to ensure that the second recess  122  does not communicate with the corresponding first recess  112 . In other words, the first recesses  112  defined in the first surface  110  should not communicate with the second recess  122  defined in the second surface  120 . In the first exemplary preferred embodiment, the second recess  122  is in the middle of the second surface  120 . A cross-section of the second recess  122  taken normal to the second surface  120  is square. The through-holes  113  defined through the first surface  110  and the second surface  120  are arranged so as to surround the second recess  122  uniformly on the second surface  120 . 
     In  FIG. 5 , a retaining apparatus  150  including the mounting support  100  and the vacuum device  140  is shown. The vacuum device  140  has a number of vacuum inlets  141  therein. The mounting support  100  is disposed on the vacuum device  140 . The second surface  120  of the mounting support  100  contacts with the vacuum device  140 . The through-holes  113  and the second recess  122  communicate with the vacuum inlets  141 . 
     In use, the flexible printed circuit board  10  is placed on the mounting support  100  with the first mounting surface  101  having the first electronic components  103  mounted thereon. The first electronic components  103  mounted on the first mounting surface  101  are received in the corresponding first recesses  112 , and thus the flexible printed circuit board  10  is supported by the mounting support  100  flatly. The through-holes  113  provide suction channels extending from the flexible printed circuit board  10  to the vacuum inlets  141  of the vacuum device  140 . In this way the flexible printed circuit board  10  is held on the mounting support  100  firmly when a vacuum sucking force produced by the vacuum device  140  is applied to the flexible printed circuit board  10  via the through-holes  113 . In the first exemplary preferred embodiment, the through-holes  113  are arranged to surround the first recesses  112  and are distributed uniformly so that the vacuum sucking force can be distributed uniformly. Thus the flexible printed circuit board  10  and flexible printed circuit boards cut from the flexible printed circuit board  10  can be fixed on the mounting support  100  flatly and firmly well. Meanwhile, air in the second recess  122  is removed using the vacuum device  140  through the vacuum inlets  141 . Thus vacuum sucking force acting on the mounting support  100  can be increased, thereby fixing the mounting support  100  on the vacuum device  140  firmly. 
     In  FIG. 6 , a mounting support  200  for retaining the flexible printed circuit board  10  according to a second exemplary embodiment is shown. The mounting support  200  is similar to the mounting support  100  in the first exemplary embodiment except that the second surface  220  defines a number of second recesses  222  therein. 
     A cross-section of each of the second recesses  222  taken normal to the second surface  220  can be circular, square, rectangular, annular or other irregular shape. Each of the second recesses  222  can have essentially identical configuration and essentially identical depth. The second recess  222  does not communicate with the first recess. If one of the second recesses  222  does not correspond to any first recess in position, a depth of the one second recess  222  can be less than a distance from the first surface  210  to the second surface  220  of the mounting support  200 . In the second exemplary preferred embodiment, a cross-section each of the second recesses  222  taken normal to the second surface  220  is rectangular. The second recesses  222  are in the middle of the second surface  220  and arranged in a parallel manner. Each of the second recesses  222  has essentially identical depth and does not communicate with the corresponding first recesses. 
     In  FIG. 7 , a mounting support  300  for retaining the flexible printed circuit board  10  according to a third exemplary embodiment is shown. The mounting support  300  is similar to the mounting support  100  in the first exemplary embodiment except that the second surface  320  defines a larger second recess  322  therein. Because the second recess  322  is large in size, all the through-holes  313  communicate with the second recess  322 . It can be understood that only one or some of the through-holes  313  communicate with the second recess  322  according to different shapes of the second recess  322 . 
     In  FIG. 8 , a mounting support  400  for laser processing the flexible printed circuit board  10  according to a fourth exemplary embodiment is shown. The mounting support  400  is similar to the mounting support  100  in the first exemplary embodiment except that the second surface  420  defines a number of second recesses  422  therein and all the through-holes  413  communicate with the second recesses  422 . In the fourth exemplary preferred embodiment, a cross-section of each of the second recesses  422  taken normal to the second surface  420  is rectangular. The second recesses  422  are arranged parallel to each other. Each of the second recesses  422  has essentially identical depth and does not communicate with the corresponding first recesses. Each of the second recesses  422  communicates with two of the through-holes  413 . According to different shapes of the second recesses  422 , maybe some of the through-holes  413  communicate with some of the second recesses  422 . 
     While certain embodiments have been described and exemplified above, various other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing disclosure. The present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described and exemplified but is capable of considerable variation and modification without departure from the scope of the appended claims.