International Business Machines Corporation

Steven E Poetzinger

Michael A Gaynes

Mark Vincent Pierson

Eric A Johnson

Jerzy Maria Zalesinski

Cynthia Susan Milkovich

Lawrence Richard Cutting

Jeffrey S Perkins

A screen printing fixture holds a flexible circuit board having components attached to one side, to allow screening a pattern of solder paste onto the second side for subsequent attachment of components to that side. In an electronic package assembly a flexible circuit board with components is wound about a heat spreader assembly having a cavity so that at least one component on the flexible circuit board is positioned within the cavity and in thermal connection to the heat spreader.

Electronic package assembly

A multi-layer flexible circuit board has thicker regions to which surface-mount-technology (SMT) components (such as flip chips and QFPs) and pin-in-hole (PIH) components are mounted on both sides and which contains conductive through vias between wiring layers. After the SMT components have been mounted to the first side, a screening fixture with a support surface that has cavities conforming the components on the first side, is used to screen solder paste to the other side of the board. The thicker regions are surrounded by thinner regions of the board with fewer wiring layers and preferably fewer or thinner dielectric layers, and which can be bent along a line without bending the thicker regions. A common heat spreader plate with cavities or holes for multiple components is laminated to the thicker regions on one side of the board. The thicker regions have windows in which wire-bond chips are mounted to the heat spreader and the chips are wirebonded to the other side of the board. A thermally conductive adhesive or grease connects between the components and the bottoms of the cavities. Two heat sink plates are bolted together and along with other such heat sink plates are bolted to an enclosure frame to improve thermal performance.

Flexible circuit board and common heat spreader assembly

A multi-layer flexible circuit board has multiple thicker regions to which components are mounted and thinner, more flexible regions with fewer wiring layers through which the board can be bent about a line without bending thicker regions. Surface mount components such as QFP's and flip-chips are mounted on the front side, and surface mount and pin-in-hole components are mounted on the back side of the circuit board at the thick regions. Heat spreaders are laminated to the back sides of thicker regions. The thicker regions have windows in which wire bond chips are mounted on the heat spreader and wire bonded to the front side of the board. A thermally conductive adhesive or grease connects between the tops of the back side components and the bottoms of the cavities. The heat sinks are bolted together and/or to an enclosure frame to improve thermal performance.

Manufacturing flexible circuit board assemblies with common heat

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Endicott, NY, United States of America

Steven E Poetzinger