Source: http://patents.com/us-9814145.html
Timestamp: 2019-01-24 06:23:53
Document Index: 19122835

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2012800418882', 'Application No. 2012800418882', 'Application No. 12827168', 'Application No. 12827460', 'Application No. 12827212', 'Application No. 12844428', 'Application No. 201380032551', 'Application No. 16169330', 'Application No. 201380032551']

US Patent # 9,814,145. Methods for manufacturing a Z-directed printed circuit board component having a removable end portion - Patents.com
United States Patent 9,814,145
Hardin , et al. November 7, 2017
Hardin; Keith Bryan (Lexington, KY), Hall; Paul Kevin (Lexington, KY), Zhang; Qing (Lexington, KY), Fessler; John Thomas (Lexington, KY)
Family ID: 1000002937928
14/631,192
US 20150173207 A1 Jun 18, 2015
13528129 Jun 20, 2012
Current CPC Class: H05K 3/301 (20130101); H05K 1/184 (20130101); H05K 3/306 (20130101); H05K 3/4046 (20130101); H05K 1/0222 (20130101); Y10T 29/49135 (20150115); H05K 1/0231 (20130101); H05K 1/0233 (20130101); H05K 1/0251 (20130101); H05K 1/0298 (20130101); H05K 2201/09645 (20130101); H05K 2201/09809 (20130101); H05K 2201/10015 (20130101); H05K 2201/10893 (20130101); H05K 2201/10984 (20130101); Y10T 29/4913 (20150115)
Current International Class: H05K 1/11 (20060101); H05K 3/30 (20060101); H05K 1/18 (20060101); H05K 3/40 (20060101); H05K 1/02 (20060101)
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Non-Final Office Action dated Feb. 19, 2016 for U.S. Appl. No. 14/574,903 (Hardin et al.). cited by applicant .
Non-Final Office Action dated Mar. 17, 2016 for U.S. Appl. No. 14/268,265 (Hall et al.). cited by applicant .
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This patent application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/528,129, filed Jun. 20, 2012, entitled "Z-Directed Printed Circuit Board Components having a Removable End Portion and Methods Therefor." This patent application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/528,097, filed Jun. 20, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,009,954, issued Apr. 21, 2015, entitled "Process for Manufacturing a Z-Directed Component for a Printed Circuit Board using a Sacrificial Constraining Material," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/222,748, filed Aug. 31, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,790,520, issued Jul. 29, 2014, entitled "Die Press Process for Manufacturing a Z-Directed Component for a Printed Circuit Board," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/222,418, filed Aug. 31, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,078,374, issued Jul. 7, 2015, entitled "Screening Process for Manufacturing a Z-Directed Component for a Printed Circuit Board," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/222,276, filed Aug. 31, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,658,245, issued Feb. 25, 2014, entitled "Spin Coat Process for Manufacturing a Z-Directed Component for a Printed Circuit Board," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/250,812, filed Sep. 30, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,752,280, issued Jun. 17, 2014, entitled "Extrusion Process for Manufacturing a Z-Directed Component for a Printed Circuit Board" and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/284,084, filed Oct. 28, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,943,684, issued Feb. 3, 2015, entitled "Continuous Extrusion Process for Manufacturing a Z-Directed Component for a Printed Circuit Board," which are assigned to the assignee of the present application.
1. A method for forming a Z-directed component for insertion into a mounting hole in a printed circuit board, comprising: filling a first cavity having a tapered surface with a body material to form a tapered end portion of the Z-directed component; providing a first layer of a constraining material on top of the first cavity, the first layer of the constraining material having a second cavity having a width that is smaller than a width of the first cavity; filling the second cavity with the body material; providing successive layers of the constraining material on top of the first layer of the constraining material, each of the successive layers of the constraining material having an additional cavity defining an outer shape of a corresponding layer of a main body portion of the Z-directed component; selectively filling the additional cavities of the successive layers of the constraining material with at least the body material to form the corresponding layers of the main body portion of the Z-directed component; dissipating the constraining material to release the Z-directed component from the constraining material; and firing the Z-directed component.
The following United States patent applications, which are assigned to the assignee of the present application, describe various "Z-directed" components that are intended to be embedded or inserted into a printed circuit board ("PCB"): Ser. No. 12/508,131 entitled "Z-Directed Components for Printed Circuit Boards," Ser. No. 12/508,145 entitled "Z-Directed Pass-Through Components for Printed Circuit Boards," Ser. No. 12/508,158 entitled "Z-Directed Capacitor Components for Printed Circuit Boards," Ser. No. 12/508,188 entitled "Z-Directed Delay Line Components for Printed Circuit Boards," Ser. No. 12/508,199 entitled "Z-Directed Filter Components for Printed Circuit Boards," Ser. No. 12/508,204 entitled "Z-Directed Ferrite Bead Components for Printed Circuit Boards," Ser. No. 12/508,215 entitled "Z-Directed Switch Components for Printed Circuit Boards," Ser. No. 12/508,236 entitled "Z-Directed Connector Components for Printed Circuit Boards," and Ser. No. 12/508,248 entitled "Z-Directed Variable Value Components for Printed Circuit Boards."
The Z-directed components may be made from various combinations of materials commonly used in electronic components. The signal connection paths are made from conductors, which are materials that have high conductivity. Unless otherwise stated, reference to conductivity herein refers to electrical conductivity. Conducting materials include, but are not limited to, copper, gold, aluminum, silver, tin, lead and many others. The Z-directed components may have areas that need to be insulated from other areas by using insulator materials that have low conductivity like plastic, glass, FR4 (epoxy & fiberglass), air, mica, ceramic and others. Capacitors are typically made of two conducting plates separated by an insulator material that has a high permittivity (dielectric constant). Permittivity is a parameter that shows the ability to store electric fields in the materials like ceramic, mica, tantalum and others. A Z-directed component that is constructed as a resistor requires materials that have properties that are between a conductor and insulator having a finite amount of resistivity, which is the reciprocal of conductivity. Materials like carbon, doped semiconductor, nichrome, tin-oxide and others are used for their resistive properties. Inductors are typically made of coils of wires or conductors wrapped around a material with high permeability. Permeability is a parameter that shows the ability to store magnetic fields in the material which may include iron and alloys like nickel-zinc, manganese-zinc, nickel-iron and others. Transistors such as field effect transistors ("FETs") are electronic devices that are made from semiconductors that behave in a nonlinear fashion and are made from silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide and others.
The numbers of layers in a PCB varies from being single sided to being over 22 layers and may have different overall thicknesses that range from less than 0.051 inch to over 0.093 inch or more. Where a flush mount is desired, the length of the Z-directed component will depend on the thickness of the PCB into which it is intended to be inserted. The Z-directed component's length may also vary depending on the intended function and tolerance of a process. The preferred lengths will be where the Z-directed component is either flush with the surfaces or extends slightly beyond the surface of the PCB. This would keep the plating solution from plating completely around the interior of the PCB hole that may cause a short in some cases. It is possible to add a resist material around the interior of a PCB hole to only allow plating in the desired areas. However, there are some cases where it is desired to completely plate around the interior of a PCB hole above and below the Z-directed component. For example, if the top layer of the PCB is a V.sub.CC plane and the bottom layer is a GND plane then a decoupling capacitor would have lower impedance if the connection used a greater volume of copper to make the connection.
FIG. 8 shows a sectional view taken along line 8-8 in FIG. 9 of a PCB 200 having 4 conductive planes or layers comprising, from top to bottom, a ground (GND) plane or trace 202, a voltage supply plane V.sub.CC 204, a second ground GND plane 206 and a third ground GND plane or trace 208 separated by nonconductive material such as a phenolic plastic such as FR4 which is widely used as is known in the art. PCB 200 may be used for high frequency signals. The top and bottom ground planes or traces 202 and 208, respectively, on the top and bottom surfaces 212 and 214, respectively, of PCB 200 are connected to conductive traces leading up to Z-directed component 220. A mounting hole 216 having a depth D in a negative Z direction is provided in PCB 200 for the flush mounting of Z-directed component 220. Here depth D corresponds to the thickness of PCB 200; however, depth D may be less than the thickness of PCB 200 creating a blind hole therein. Mounting hole 216, as illustrated, is a through-hole that is round in cross-section to accommodate Z-directed component 220 but may have cross sections to accommodate the insertion of Z-directed components having other body configurations. In other words, mounting holes are sized so that Z-directed components are insertable therein. For example, a Z-directed component having a cylindrical shape may be inserted into a square mounting hole and vice versa. In the cases where Z-directed component does not make a tight fit, resist materials will have to be added to the areas of the component and PCB where copper plating is not desired.
Z-directed component 220 is illustrated as a three lead component that is flush mounted with respect to both the top surface 212 and bottom surface 214 of PCB 200. Z-directed component 220 is illustrated as having a generally cylindrical body 222 of a length L. A center conductive channel or lead 224, illustrated as being cylindrical, is shown extending the length of body 222. Two concave side wells or channels 226 and 228, which define the other two leads, are provided on the side surface of Z-directed component 220 extending the length of body 222. Side channels 226 and 228 are plated for making electrical connections to Z-directed component 220 from various layers of PCB 200. As shown, the ground plane traces on layers 202, 206, and 208 of PCB 100 are electrically connected to side channels 226 and 228. V.sub.CC plane 204 does not connect to Z-directed component 220 as shown by the gap 219 between V.sub.CC plane 204 and wall 217 of mounting hole 216.
During the plating process, wells 256 and 258 formed between wall 217 of mounting hole 216 and side channels 226 and 228 allow plating material or solder pass from the top surface 212 to the bottom surface 214 electrically interconnecting traces 250 and 254, respectively to side channels 226 and 228, respectively, of Z-directed component 220 and also to similarly situated traces provided on the bottom surface 214 of PCB 200 interconnecting ground planes or traces 202, 206 and 208. The plating is not shown for purposes of illustrating the structure. In this embodiment, V.sub.CC plane 204 does not connect to Z-directed component 220.
A Z-directed signal pass through component may also comprise a decoupling capacitor that will allow the reference plane of a signal to switch from a ground plane, designated GND, to a voltage supply plane, designated V.sub.CC, without having a high frequency discontinuity. FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of a typical 4-layer PCB 300 with a signal trace 302 transferring between the top layer 304 and the bottom layer 306. Z-directed component 310, similar to that shown in FIG. 5D, having body 312 connects signal trace 302 through center conductive channel 314. Z-directed component 310 also comprises plated side channels 316 and 318 extending along the side surface 312s of the body 312. The top 314t and bottom 314b of conductive channel 314 are connected to conductive traces 318t and 318b on the top 312t and bottom 312b of body 312. These, in turn, are connected to signal trace 302 via top and bottom plating bridges 330t and 330b. Side channels 316 and 318 are plated to GND plane 332 and V.sub.CC plane 334, respectively. Connection points 336 and 338, respectively, illustrate this electrical connection. Schematically illustrated decoupling capacitor 350 is internal to body 312 and is connected between side channels 316 and 318. Decoupling capacitor 350 may be a separate capacitor integrated into the body 312 of Z-directed component 310 or it can be formed by fabricating a portion of the body 312 of Z-directed component 310 from the required materials with dielectric properties between conductive surfaces.
The path for signal trace 302 is illustrated with diagonal hatching and can be seen to run from top layer 304 to bottom layer 306. GND plane 332 and side channel 316 are electrically connected at 336 with the signal path return indicated by the dark stippling 362. V.sub.CC plane 334 and side channel 318 are electrically connected at 338 with the signal path return indicated by the light stippling 364. As is known in the art, where a signal plane or trace is not to be connected to the inserted part, those portions are spaced apart from the component as shown at 370. Where a signal plane or trace is to be connected to an inserted component, the signal plane or trace is provided at the wall or edge of the opening to allow the plating material or solder to bridge therebetween as illustrated at points 330t, 330b, 336, and 338.
The vertically hatched portion 380 shows the high speed loop area between the signal trace and return current path described by the signal trace 302 and the GND plane 332 or V.sub.CC plane 334. The signal trace 302 on the bottom surface 306 is referenced to power plane V.sub.CC 334 that is coupled to the GND plane 332 through decoupling capacitor 350. This coupling between the two planes will keep the high frequency impedance close to constant for the transition from one return plane to another plane of a different DC voltage.
Side channels 425 and 427 and wall 411 of hole 410 form plating wells 413 and 415 respectively. Center region 424 is positioned within body 422 and extends a distance approximately equal to the distance separating the two internal signal layers 404 and 406. Side channel 425 extends from the bottom surface 422b of body 422 to internal signal level 406 while side channel 427 extends from top surface 422t of body 422 to internal signal level 404. Here, side channels 425 and 427 extend only along a portion of side surface 422s of body 422. Conductive channel 426 extends through center region 424 but does not extend to the top and bottom surfaces 422t, 422b of body 422. FIG. 5H illustrates a partial channel similar to side channel 427. Conductive channel 426 has conductive traces 428t and 428b extending from the top 426t and bottom 426b of conductive channel 426 to side channels 427 and 425, respectively. While illustrated as separate elements, conductive channel 426 and traces 428t, 428b may be one integrated conductor electrically interconnecting side channels 425, 427. As shown, conductive trace 428b is connected to internal signal layer 406 via plated side channel 425 and well 413 while trace 428t connects to internal signal level 404 via side channel 427 and well 415. Ground layers 402 and 408 are not connected to Z-directed component 420 and are spaced away from mounting hole 410 as previously described for FIGS. 8 and 10. As shown by double headed dashed arrow 430, a signal on signal layer 406 can be via'd to signal layer 404 (or vice versa) via Z-directed component 420 through a path extending from well 413, side channel 425, trace 428b, conductive channel 426, trace 428t, side channel 427, and well 415 to allow the signal to remain on the inner layers of PCB 400 with ground layers 402 and 408 providing shielding.
FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate two additional example Z-directed components in the form of decoupling capacitors. In FIG. 12, a Z-directed capacitor 500 is shown with a body 502 having a conductive channel 504 and two side channels 506 and 508 extending along its length similar to those previously described. Conductive channel 504 is shown connected to a signal 526. Vertically oriented interleaved partial cylindrical sheets 510, 512 forming the plates of Z-directed capacitor 500 are connected to reference voltages such as voltage V.sub.CC and ground (or any other signals requiring capacitance) and are used with intervening layers of dielectric material (not shown). Partial cylindrical sheet 510 is connected to plated channel 506 which is connected to ground 520. Partial cylindrical sheet 512 is connected to plated channel 508 which is connected to supply voltage V.sub.CC 522. Sheets 510, 512 may be formed of copper, aluminum or other material with high conductivity. The material between the partial cylindrical sheets is a material with dielectric properties. Only one partial cylindrical sheet is shown connected to each of V.sub.CC 522 and ground 520; however, additional partial cylindrical sheets may be provided to achieve the desired capacitance/voltage rating.
Another embodiment of a Z-directed capacitor is shown in FIG. 13 using stacked support members connected to voltage V.sub.CC or ground. Z-directed capacitor 600 is comprised of center conductive channel 601 and a body 605 comprised of a top member 605t, a bottom member 605b, and a plurality of support members 610 (illustrated as disks) between the top and bottom members 605t, 605b.
Opposed openings 607t and 608t are provided at the edge of top portion 605t. Bottom portion 605b is of similar construction as top portion 605t having opposed openings 607b and 608b provided at the edge. Between top and bottom portions 605t, 605b are a plurality of support members 610, which provide the capacitive feature. Support members 610 each have at least one opening 613 at their outer edge and an inner hole 615 allowing for passage of conductive channel 601 therethrough. As shown, two opposed openings 613 are provided in each support member 610. When assembled, the opposed openings 607t, 607b, 608t, 608b, and 613 align to form opposed side channels 604 and 608 extending along the side surface of Z-directed capacitor 600. Side channel 604 is shown connected to reference voltage such as ground 620 and side channel 606 to another reference voltage such as V.sub.CC 622. Support members 610 may be fabricated from a dielectric material and may be all of the same or varying thickness allowing for choice in designing the desired properties for Z-directed capacitor 600.
As illustrated, the support members 610 are substantially identical except that when stacked, alternate members are rotated 180 degrees with respect to the member above or below it. This may be referred to as a 1-1 configuration. In this way, alternate members will be connected to one or the other of the two side channels. As shown in FIG. 13, the annular plating on the upper one of the two support members 610 is connected to side channel 608 and voltage V.sub.CC 622 while the annular plating on the lower one of the two support members 610 is connected to side channel 604 and ground 620. Other support member arrangements may also be used such as having two adjacent members connected to the same channel with the next support member being connected to the opposite channel which may be referred to as a 2-1 configuration. Other configurations may include 2-2, 3-1 and are a matter of design choice. The desired capacitance or voltage rating determines the number of support members that are inserted between top and bottom portions 605t, 605b. Although not shown, dielectric members comprised of dielectric material and similarly shaped to support members 610 may be interleaved with support members 610. Based on design choice, only a single channel may be used or more channels may be provided and/or the annular plating may be brought into contact with the center conductive channel and not in contact with the side channels. Again, the embodiments for Z-directed capacitors are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.
A process for manufacturing the Z-directed components on a commercial scale is provided. The process employs a sacrificial constraining material used as a structure to define and support the outer boundary and thickness of each layer being formed to construct the Z-directed component. The constraining layer allows the component to be constructed in an unfired state (e.g., a "green" state where the component body is formed from ceramic) and then be fired to solidify its form.
With reference back to FIGS. 14A-14C, top surface 702, including any dimples or depressions therein, is coated with a release layer 708 that prevents the Z-directed component from adhering to the substrate material thereby allowing the component to be separated from sheet 700 without damaging or deforming the component. Release layer 708 may be applied to top surface 702 of sheet 700 by any suitable method capable of applying a thin layer of substantially equal thickness to the substrate material. For example, release layer 708 may be sprayed, squeegeed, spun, or laminated onto sheet 700. Release layer 708 is formed from a polymer or other material that does not react with any of the chemicals or radiations used during the construction of the Z-directed component so that the structure of release layer 708 does not change during the manufacturing process. In one embodiment, release layer 708 includes a polyimide (or a polyimide with glass fillers) due to its strength and resistance to etching chemicals. Suitable polyimides include, for example, UPILEX.RTM. available from Ube Industries, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan and KAPTON.RTM. available from E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont.TM.), Wilmington, Del., USA. Release layer 708 is expected to dissipate during the firing process allowing the Z-directed component to release from sheet 700.
As shown in FIG. 18, a first layer of a sacrificial constraining material 720 is applied to top surface 702 having release layer 708 coated thereon. Sacrificial constraining material 720 forms a cavity 722 that defines the outer shape of the component. In the example embodiment illustrated, cavity 722 includes a generally cylindrical wall 724 defining a generally cylindrical shape of the first layer. Wall 724 includes a pair of protrusions 726, 728 that define a corresponding pair of side channels in the component. The thickness of this layer of sacrificial constraining material 720 is the same as the desired height of the first layer of the Z-directed component. In some embodiments, the layers of the component have a height that is between about 0.039 mil and about 62 mil (about 1 .mu.m and about 1.57 mm), including all increments and values therebetween, depending on the application in which the Z-directed component will be used. It will be appreciated that the layers may be made thinner than about 1 .mu.m as the technology advances. The heights of the layers making up a Z-directed component may be uniform or may vary within a single Z-directed component. In one embodiment, sacrificial constraining material 720 is the same material as release layer 708. Alternatively, sacrificial constraining material 720 may be any suitable material that will survive the chemicals and radiations used during the construction of the Z-directed component. Any suitable method may be used to apply sacrificial constraining material 720 including, for example, etching, depositing (such as physical vapor deposition (PVD) or plating), spin coating, screen printing or jetting.
The remainder of cavity 722 is then filled with the material 740 forming the body 742 of the component as shown in FIG. 21. Body material 740 is illustrated with a dotted fill. At this stage, a first layer of the Z-directed component is formed. Body material 740 may include a single dielectric material that has a relative permittivity from about 3, e.g., polymers, to over 10,000, e.g., barium titanate (BaTiO.sub.3). For example, a material with a relatively high dielectric value may be used in a Z-directed decoupling capacitor and a material with a relatively low dielectric value may be used in a Z-directed signal pass-through component. If a Z-directed component is desired to have an inductive function or a delay line then a ferrite material may be selected that has a low or high relative permeability with a range of about 1 to about 50,000. If a Z-directed component is desired to have some degree of conductivity then a conductive material may be mixed with a dielectric material to create a desired resistance.
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