TFCC (TM) and SWCC (TM) thermal flex contact carriers
OwnerDon Saunders, Gabe Cherianinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Two groups of interconnection devices and methods are described. Both provide columns between electronic packages and boards or between chips and substrates or the like. In the first group, called Thermal Flex Contact Carrier (TFCC), the column elements are carved out of a flat laminated structure and then formed to suit. In the second group, the carrier, which carries the connecting elements, is made out of a soluble or removable material, which acts at the same time, as a solder mask, to prevent the solder from wicking along the stem of the elements.
Claims35
A set of at least two contacts, for connecting a first electronic device having a generally flat surface, a BGA or a chip, to a second electronic device having a generally flat surface and being generally parallel to said first device, a PCB or a substrate, both devices having corresponding contact pads, each contact being made out of a resilient electrically conductive material, such as copper, and comprising a tall, slim and slender column-like body, and a first end and a second end, said first end being capable of being attached to a BGA contact pad, and being referred to as the Contact BGA End, and said second end being capable of being attached to the PCB contact pad, and being referred to as the Contact PCB End,
- the column portions of the contacts being arranged to be generally perpendicular to the generally flat surface of the BGA and to the generally flat surface of the PCB, wherein
- the column portions of the contacts have a generally elongated cross-section, having a relatively small thickness compared to the width of the cross-section, and wherein the column portions of each one of said contacts is arranged to be oriented so that the contact would present the least resistance to bending in the general direction of the expected thermal deformation of the assembly of BGA and PCB, at the location of the respective contact.
An interconnection device, for connecting a first electronic device having a generally flat surface, a BGA or a chip, to a second electronic device having a generally flat surface and being generally parallel to said first device, a PCB or a substrate, both devices having corresponding contact pads, said interconnection device being referred to as the Soluble Woven Contact Carrier or SWCC for short, comprising a SWCC main flat body, and at least two contact elements, referred to simply as contacts,
- said SWCC main flat body being made of woven threads and filaments, each one of said contacts being made out of a resilient electrically conductive material, such as copper, and having a tall slender columnar shape, having a body portion, being referred to as the Contact Column, and a first end, being referred to as the Contact BGA End, which will be capable of being attached to a corresponding BGA contact pad, and a second end, being referred to as the Contact PCB End, which will be capable of being attached to a corresponding PCB contact pad,
- said contacts being arranged to have their Contact Columns, being generally perpendicular to the SWCC main flat body, and located so that the Contact BGA End of each contact can be attached to its corresponding BGA contact pad and the Contact PCB End of each contact can be attached to its corresponding PCB contact pad, wherein
- at least some of the threads and filaments of the SWCC main flat body are removable or dissolvable.
An interconnection device, for connecting a first electronic device having a generally flat surface, say a BGA or a chip, to a second electronic device having a generally flat surface and being generally parallel to said first device, say a PCB or a substrate, both devices having corresponding contact pads, said interconnection device being referred to as the Solder Mask Carrier or SMC for short, comprising a SMC main flat body, and at least two contact elements, referred to simply as contacts,
- each one of said contacts being made out of a resilient electrically conductive material, such as copper, and having a tall slender columnar shape, having a body portion, being referred to as the Contact Column, and a first end, being referred to as the Contact BGA End, and being capable of being attached to a corresponding BGA contact pad, and a second end, being referred to as the Contact PCB End, and being capable of being attached to a corresponding PCB contact pad,
- said contacts being arranged to have their Contact Column, being generally perpendicular to the SMC main flat body, and located so that the Contact BGA End of each contact can be attached to its corresponding BGA contact pad and the Contact PCB End of each contact can be attached to its corresponding PCB contact pad, wherein
- said SMC main flat body is made of material that can act as a solder masking material, so that when said contacts are soldered to their respective BGA and PCB contact pads, the solder would not wick too far along the length of the contact column, leaving enough length of column without solder.
An interconnection device, for connecting a first electronic device having a generally flat surface, a BGA or a chip, to a second electronic device having a generally flat surface and being generally parallel to said first device, a PCB or a substrate, both devices having corresponding contact pads, said interconnection device being referred to as the Thermal Flex Contact Carrier or TFCC for short, comprising a main flat body, said TFCC main flat body comprising at least two contact elements, referred to as Thermal Flex Contacts or simply contacts,
- said TFCC main flat body being made of a generally flat composite laminate, comprising at least a resilient electrically conductive layer, such as copper, joined to a dielectric layer, both layers being processed so as to create individual contact blanks for the said at least two contacts out of the electrically conductive layer of the TFCC main flat body, with said contact blanks being still attached and held in position to the TFCC body with portions of the dielectric layer, acting as attachment tabs,
- each one of said contact blanks being shaped to have a body portion blank, to create what will be referred to as the Contact Column, and a head portion blank, to create what will be referred to as the Contact BGA End, which will be capable of being attached to a corresponding BGA contact pad, and a foot portion blank, to create what will be referred to as the Contact PCB End, which will be capable of being attached to a corresponding PCB contact pad, all said contact portions having a relatively small thickness compared to the width of the individual portions, and
- each one of said contact blanks having a main longitudinal axis passing through the middle of the three above portions,
- each one of said contact blanks then being formed to have the head portion of the contacts, the Contact BGA End, remaining in the same general flat space as that of the electrically conductive layer, while the body portion of the contacts, the Contact Column, being formed to be generally perpendicular to the TFCC main flat body and acting as a tall, slim and slender column, and the foot portion of the contacts, the Contact PCB End, being formed to be generally parallel to the TFCC main flat body,
- each one of said contacts being arranged and located so that the Contact BGA End of each contact will be capable to being attached to its corresponding BGA contact pad and the Contact PCB End of each contact would be capable to being attached to its corresponding PCB contact pad, wherein
- the contact blanks, created from the electrically conductive layer, are laid out in such a pattern and with the main longitudinal axis of each contact blank pointing in such a direction, so that when the contacts are formed out of these contact blanks, to create the column and the foot portions of the contacts, they end up such that the Contact Column of each one of said contacts would be arranged to be oriented in a way, so that said contact would present the least resistance to bending in the general direction of the expected thermal deformation of the assembly of BGA and PCB, at the location of the respective contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.