Patent Publication Number: US-2007095562-A1

Title: Flexible circuit board with reinforcing board

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a flexible circuit board, especially to a flexible circuit board with reinforcing board.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Owing to the coming of digital times, the dependency of people on the electronic products increases. To meet demands of current electronic products such as high speed, high performance and lightweight, flexible circuit boards have gradually been applied in various electronic products, such as notebook computer, mobile phone, digital camera, personal digital assistant, printer and CD-ROM, etc.  
      The flexible circuit board may be a FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit), a FFC (Flexible Flat Cable) or a thin film switch, which is not only used for electrical connection, but also for carrying chips or other electronic devices. For enabling the cooperation and communication between the chips and other electronic devices, as well as effectively protecting the fragile chips, various package technologies for chips are developed. For example, common wafer bonding technologies include wire bonding, flip-chip and tape automated bonding (TAB), etc. The tape automated bonding is used to bond a chip on a flexible circuit board. Since the flexible circuit board itself is bendable, making the subsequent assembly processes more flexible, and the application becomes more widespread.  
       FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a conventional flexible circuit board being inserted into a connector of a circuit board. A conventional flexible circuit board comprises a flexible substrate  21  having an upper surface  22  and a lower surface  23  and a reinforcing board  25  adhered to a front end of the upper surface  22  of the flexible substrate  21 .  
      When an user applies a force on a rear end of the reinforcing board  25  by a finger (fingernail) or a flat tool to position the conventional flexible circuit board into the connector  24  of a circuit board  26 , it may be inconvenient for assembly due to the small area on which the force is applied of the rear end of the reinforcing board  25 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a finger applying a force on a conventional flexible circuit board. Due to bad operation of the operator, the flexible substrate  21  may be bent down first to increase the area on which the force is applied of the rear end of the reinforcing board  25 , such that it is easy for the operator to apply the force on the conventional flexible circuit board and position the conventional flexible circuit board into the connector  24 . However, due to the property of the material of the flexible substrate  21 , it is easy to break at the location, indicated by an arrow “a”, of the flexible substrate  21 , resulting in an abnormal use of the conventional flexible circuit board.  
       FIG. 4  illustrates a finger applying a force on a conventional flexible circuit board. When a conventional flexible circuit board is being inserted into the connector  24 , due to bad operation of the operator, the flexible substrate  21  may be bent upward first such that it is easy for the operator to apply the force on the conventional flexible circuit board and position the conventional flexible circuit board into the connector  24 . However, due to the property of the material of the flexible substrate  21 , it is easy to break at the location, indicated by an arrow “b”, of the flexible substrate  21 , resulting in an abnormal use of the conventional flexible circuit board.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      One objective of the present invention is to provide a flexible circuit board with a reinforcing board, in which the reinforcing board can increase the height of the whole flexible substrate such that the assembly of the flexible circuit board and a connector can be accomplished by pushing the reinforcing board into the connector to cooperatively move the flexible substrate into the connector.  
      Another objective of the present invention is to provide a flexible circuit board with a reinforcing board, in which a part of the reinforcing board is combined with an upper surface of the flexible substrate to increase an area on which a force is applied of the reinforcing board, thereby preventing the flexible substrate from being broken due to bad operation of an operator.  
      For achieving the above objectives, the present invention provides a flexible circuit board with a reinforcing board comprising a flexible substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface and a reinforcing board disposed at the upper surface of the flexible substrate. A part of the reinforcing board is combined with the upper surface of the flexible substrate.  
      Preferably, the reinforcing board is an electrically insulator.  
      Preferably, the reinforcing board is a hard plastic material.  
      Preferably, the reinforcing board is disposed at a front end of the upper surface of the flexible substrate by adherence.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view depicting a flexible circuit board of the present invention is to be inserted into a connector of a circuit board.  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic view depicting a conventional flexible circuit board is to be inserted into a connector of a circuit board.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a finger applying a force on a conventional flexible circuit board.  
       FIG. 4  illustrates a finger applying a force on a conventional flexible circuit board. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Although the present invention will be described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, however prior to this description, it is should be understood that those skilled in the art can easily make changes to the present invention described herein and the same performance as the present invention is obtained. Therefore, it is to be understood that the following description is a general disclosure to those skilled in the art and is not restrictive of the present invention.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , which depicts a schematic view of a flexible circuit board of the present invention is to be inserted into a connector of a circuit board. The flexible circuit board according to the present invention comprises a flexible substrate  31  having an upper surface  32  and a lower surface  33  and a reinforcing board  35  disposed at a front end of the upper surface  32  of the flexible substrate  31 . A front part of the reinforcing board  35  is combined with the upper surface  32  of the flexible substrate  31 , i.e. a part of the reinforcing board  35  as indicated by the arrow “C” is strongly adhered to the front end of the upper surface  32  of the flexible substrate  31 .  
      When a user applies a force on the reinforcing board  35  to insert the flexible circuit board into a connector  34  of a circuit board  36 , due to that a rear part of the reinforcing board  35  can be moved away from the upper surface  32  of the flexible substrate  31 , an area on which the force is applied of the rear part of the reinforcing board  35  is increased, and thus it is convenient for applying the force by the user. More importantly, the risk of the breakage of the flexible substrate  31  is avoided.  
      The advantage of the flexible circuit board of the present invention is as follows: a part of the reinforcing board is combined with the upper surface of the flexible substrate, and another part of the reinforcing board can be relatively moved away from the upper surface of the flexible substrate, such that the breakage of the flexible substrate due to the bad operation of the operator is avoided, i.e. the flexible substrate can be bent upward/downward.  
      Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art can easily understand that all kinds of alterations and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained herein.