Advanced Circuit Technology, Inc.

E.i. Dupont De Nemours and Company

Miraco, Inc.

Interflex Corporation

Thomas H Stearns

Joseph A Roberts, Ii

Thomas F Burke

Merwin F Hoover

Arthur J DeMaso

Davis W Murphy

John D Cawston

Dennis A Bonnette

A polymeric yarn to be coated with electroless nickel is pretreated with an acid and a surfactant to render the yarn surfaces water wettable and not substantially mechanically degraded. All surfaces of yarn formed of polymeric monofilament fibers are coated with a layer of electroless nickel which can also include an electrolytic metal such as copper on the nickel. The yarn is passed through an electroless Ni aqueous bath under little or no tension so that the electroless Ni can coat all of the monofilament surface substantially uniformly. The nickel coated yarn then can be coated with electrolytic metal such as copper in an electrolytic metal plating step.

Process for making thermally stable metal coated polymeric monofilament

All surfaces of yarn formed of polymeric monofilament fibers are coated with a layer of electroless nickel which can also include an electrolytic metal such as copper on the nickel. The yarn is passed through an electroless Ni aqueous bath under little or no tension so that the electroless Ni can coat all of the monofilament surface substantially uniformly. The nickel coated yarn then can be coated with electrolytic metal such as copper in an electrolytic metal plating step.

Thermally stable metal coated polymeric monofilament or yarn

A laminate comprising metal layers separated by an etchant barrier to control depth of etching of the laminate, the barrier being etchable by an etchant which is not an etchant for the layers. A cable incorporating such a laminate and having relatively flexible conductors integral with relatively rigid terminals. A method of making such a cable, using the laminate, by selectively etching the layers down to the barrier to form the conductors and terminals, stripping the barrier and laminating the conductor with an insulating material preferably extending over at least a portion of the terminals to reinforce the conductor terminal transition and a cable when made of such a method.

Laminated conductive material, multiple conductor cables and methods of

This is a printed circuit comprising multiple layers and rigid and flexible portions and including a sheet of flexible substrate material extending over the entirety of the rigid and flexible portions and paths of conductive material carried by at least one side of the sheet of flexible substrate material with a sheet of flexible over-layer material extending over at least the entirety of the conductors in all the flexible portions. A flexible adhesive material may adhesively attach the sheet of flexible over-layer material to the entirety of all the flexible portions and a rigid substrate material extends over the entirety of all the rigid portions. A rigid adhesive material may adhesively attach the sheets of a rigid substrate material to the entirety of all the rigid portions. The rigid adhesive attaching the rigid substrate material to the rigid portions may extend out over the edge of the rigid portions onto the flexible portions to form a protective edge. The sheet of flexible over-layer material may also extend over the rigid portions and be attached with a rigid adhesive.

Combined rigid and flexible printed circuits and method of manufacture

This is a printed circuit comprising multiple layers and rigid and flexible portions and including a sheet of flexible substrate material extending over the entirety of the rigid and flexible portions and paths of conductive material carried by at least one side of the sheet of flexible substrate material. This invention comprises, a sheet of flexible over-layer material extending over at least the entirety of all the flexible portions; a flexible adhesive material adhesively attaching the sheet of flexible over-layer material to the entirety of all the flexible portions; sheets of a rigid substrate material extending over the entirety of all the rigid portions; and, a rigid adhesive material adhesively attaching the sheets of a rigid substrate material to the entirety of all the rigid portions. The rigid adhesive attaching the sheets of rigid substrate to the rigid portions may extend out over the edge of the rigid portions onto the flexible portions to form a protective edge. The sheet of flexible over-layer material may also extend over the rigid portions and be attached with a rigid adhesive.

High yield combined rigid and flexible printed circuits and method of

In a flexible circuit connector assembly, a first circuit has exposed contacts which are positioned in register with the termination pads of another circuit by means of a connector which mechanically clamps the two circuits together. The connector includes a frame having an undersurface to which the first circuit is affixed. Locating posts project from that surface and are received in locating apertures in the second circuit to properly position the connector and the attached circuit relative to the second circuit. A generally C-shaped spring member engages around the frame with its arms extending beyond the locating posts and with its bridging segment extending more or less perallel to the frame reference surface. An actuator mounted to the frame is movable between a releasing position wherein it deflects the spring bridging segment toward the frame reference surface to spread apart the arm hooks so that they are aligned with the locating posts, thereby permitting those posts to be inserted into the circuit apertures.

Flexible circuit connection assembly

A switch module includes a base and an array of one or more switches spaced adjacent to one another on the base. Each switch includes a fixed contact as well as a moving contact and supporting arm therefor. All of the switches in the array are formed from a single planar conductive blank composed of a closed frame and first and second sets of opposed elongated cantilevered panels extending from opposite sides of the frame, one set of panels forming the stationary contacts and the other set of panels forming the moving contacts and supporting arms therefor. The blank is deformed to move all of the corresponding stationary and moving contacts into overlapping relation and to give bias to all of the contact arms so that they urge the associated moving contacts into or out of engagement with the corresponding fixed contacts. All of the switches while they are still integral parts of the deformed blank are mounted to the base so that the relative positions on the base of all of the switch contacts are predetermined by their positions in the deformed blank. Finally, the deformed mounted blank is severed at selected locations to electrically isolate some or all of the switch contacts mounted to the base. Various blanks for making the switch module are disclosed as is the method for doing same.

Method of making snap action switches

A connection system for connecting a flexible circuit having a row of printed contact areas to a PC board having a corresponding row of terminal posts employs a connector having a housing with a bottm wall and a pair of side walls at least one of which is movable with respect to the other. A row of post-receiving passages are present in the bottom wall which passages are arranged to receive the posts of the PC board. An edge margin of the flexible circuit is clamped between the housing side walls so that the contact areas thereon are aligned with the passages in the housing bottom wall and a set of springs positioned inside the housing flexes the circuit edge margin so that when the movable housing side wall is in its closed position, the row of contact areas overhang the passages in the housing bottom wall. Consequently when the connector housing is impaled on the printed PC board posts, the posts project into the housing and are resiliently engaged by corresponding ones of the flexible circuit conductive areas.

Printed circuit connection system

An electrical circuit connection assembly aligns the corresponding contacts of two fine-line printed circuits. The assembly includes an alignment plate affixed to one of the circuits which has flexible legs whose ends engage in converging guide slots on the other circuit when the corresponding contacts of the two circuits are in gross registration. When the two circuits are clamped together, those legs flex outward along the slots so that they are wedged by the slot walls laterally in one direction or the other until they are centered in their slots to achieve fine registration of those circuit contacts.

Growing community of inventors

Nashua, NH, United States of America

Thomas H Stearns