US 6,410,360 B1Granted

Laminate-based apparatus and method of fabrication

AssigneeTeledyne Industries, Inc.

InventorRobert W. Steenberge

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Abstract

The present invention discloses a laminate-based electromechanical device and a method of fabricating laminate-based electromechanical devices. The device includes two or more layers of laminate bonded together to form a unitary laminate structure. The layers of laminate include a layer of organic dielectric material that may have at least a portion of one layer of electrically conductive material adherent thereto. The layers of organic dielectric material are bonded to form a unitary laminate structure through a process of lamination. The structures that make up the electromechanical device may be formed either before or after bonding. In particular, the various electromechanical structures that make up the electromechanical device are formed from the layers of organic dielectric material and the layers of electrically conductive material adherent thereto using a predetermined sequence of additive and subtractive fabrication techniques.

Claims33

Dependent claims

A method of fabricating a laminate-based electromechanical relay device, comprising:

providing at least one first layer of laminate having at least one layer of electrically conductive material adherent thereto;
forming at least one stationary contact from the at least one layer of electrically conductive material;
providing at least one intermediate layer of laminate adjacent to the first layer of laminate;
providing at least one second layer of laminate atop the at least one intermediate layer, the at least one second layer having at least one layer of electrically conductive material adherent thereto;
removing a portion of the at least one intermediate layer adjacent to the at least one stationary contact to form an air gap between said at least one first layer and at least one second layer;
forming at least one moving contact from the at least one second layer and the at least one layer of electrically conductive material adherent thereto, the at least one moving contact adjacent to the air gap, such that the at least one second layer and the at least one layer of electrically conductive material adherent thereto are deflectable such that the at least one moving contact is capable of contacting the stationary contact;
stacking the at least one first, intermediate, and second layers in an order to provide a stack;
and
bonding the stack to form a unitary laminate body.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.