Flex circuit and cable assembly

Abstract

A flex circuit and cable assembly for interconnecting printed circuit boards includes a flexible insulating substrate having a conductive ground plane formed on one side and first and second sets of longitudinally extending and interdigitated conductive traces on the other side. The traces of the first and second sets alternate with and are laterally spaced from one another and are provided with an array of connection pads formed on the conductive traces for connection to the tails of an electrical connector or header. Each connection array is defined by a first set of laterally enlarged connection pads associated with each conductive trace of the first set of conductive traces and formed along a first lateral axis and by a second set of laterally enlarged connection pads associated with each conductive trace of the second set of conductive traces and formed along a second lateral axis that is longitudinally spaced from the first lateral axis. An electrical connector or header having first and second sets of contacts is assembled to the connection array by folding the flex circuit about a fold axis intermediate the two lateral axes and connecting the tail portions of the first set of electrical contacts to the connection pads of the first set of traces and the tails of the second set electrical contact the connection pads of the second set of traces.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.