Patent Application
20160285182
The assembly of electronic products in high labor rate markets has become less competitive as manufacturing has been moved to locations where low labor rate employees are easily employable. This approach reduces the labor cost for the product. An effective way for operations in high labor rate markets to counteract this disparity and reduce or eliminate this competitive disadvantage is to find ways to reduce labor content, essentially reducing the number of labor hours per product. An effective way to accomplish this is to create a machine-build or automate the product assembly process. One of the existing labor-intensive operations involved in circuit board assembly is having to hand-solder components to the circuit board. This has been the case for components that are used to interconnect one circuit board to another. One category of components that are an example of this requirement is called “connector assemblies.” These assemblies consist of a “male” half (commonly referred to as a “plug” or “pin”) that is soldered to one circuit board and a “female” half (commonly referred to as a “socket” or “receptacle”) that is soldered to another circuit board. After these two halves of a connector assembly are soldered to their respective circuit boards, the two circuit boards can be interconnected by pressing the male, pin half into the female, socket half.
Automating the soldering of an existing right-angle pin (see
Aspects of the invention overcome the deficiencies of prior art by maintaining the proper orientation of the right-angle pin during the automated reflow soldering process. This is accomplished by designing the pin with two “feet” that protrude from the pin's body and are inserted into the circuit board. Embodiments of the invention not only permit the total automation of a right-angle pin connector to a circuit board, but also accomplish this automation and subsequent precision of the insert of the pins without the requirement of any additional automation equipment. The automation equipment needed to assemble the invention to a circuit board is the same equipment that is used to assemble the other traditional components on the circuit board.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
The drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments. Moreover, while the disclosed technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the embodiments described. On the contrary, the embodiments are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the embodiments as defined by the appended claims.
Embodiments of the invention improve over prior designs by modifying the design of a circuit assembly pin with efficiency in automated insertions on the circuit boards by automated machines. Referring now to
Still referring to
a=about 0.060 inches;
b=about 0.240 inches;
c=about 0.070 inches;
d=about 0.030 inches;
e=about 0.070 inches;
f=about 0.030 inches;
g=about 0.020 inches;
h=about 0.020 inches;
i=about 0.032 inches;
j=about 0.040 inches (diameter);
k=about 0.082 inches;
m=about 0.060 inches;
In one example, the barrel 204 is inserted into a socket of a first circuit board (not shown). In this example, the barrel 204 includes a substantially cylindrical profile. On the other hand, the body 202 includes a substantially rectangular cuboid profile, see also the frontal view in 500 in
In one embodiment, the body 202 includes a set of protrusions that includes the set of legs 210 and 212. In another embodiment, the set of protrusions that includes the fin 206 and the web 208. In a further embodiment, the set of protrusions having the set of legs 210 and 212 is substantially perpendicular to the barrel 204. For example, the angle between the set of legs 210 and 212 and the barrel 204 is substantially a right-angle (90 degrees).
The set of legs 210 and 212 has a second length to be inserted to a circuit board (not shown). In one embodiment, the set of legs 210 and 212 includes a substantially flat surface generally free of projections or depressions. As such, in this embodiment, the set of legs 210 and 212 and the body 202 have a slightly different physical profile. This embodiment nevertheless enhances and assists in the collection and orientation of the circuit assembly pin 200 by the pick-and-place machines in placement the circuit assembly pin 200 in the circuit board.
Referring to another embodiment of the invention, a side view of a circuit assembly pin 300 according to one embodiment of the invention is shown in
In one embodiment, the circuit assembly pin 200 or circuit assembly pin 300 is comprised of one-piece electrically conductive material.
In one embodiment, the circuit assembly pin 200 or 300 is fabricated or manufactured from a coining fabrication process. Coining process is operated in a relative “cold working” working environment as compared to the typical stamping process which “cuts” pieces from a larger sheet of metal. With coining, materials used for circuit assembly pin 200 or 300 are formed in response to a fabrication technique that uses high forces to plastically deform the larger sheet. In this example and in an industrial application, a sheet of electrically conductive material is plastically formed by material cold flow process.
The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. They simulate a user facing the apparatus and various parts are numbered.
