The invention relates to a wire-printed circuit board or card comprising etched strip conductors and conductors that run in the circuit board or card between connection points according to the generic term of Claim 1.
Normally strip conductors are produced on cards or circuit boards by means of the etching method, i.e., areas of a copper film applied to a support board are etched away between the desired strip conductors. With wire-printed circuit boards or cards, on the other hand, conductors made of electrically conductive material are laid between connection points arranged on the card for the electronic components to be placed on the card and, for example, cast, together with the card, into a block of insulating compound using a sandwich construction. A method for producing such a wire-printed circuit board or card is known, for example, from DE 196 18 917 C1. Therefore, a distinction is to be made between wire-printed cards on or in which conductors are laid between connection points of electronic components and line links in which only currents or signals between separated cards or printed circuit boards are to be transmitted by the conductors.
For complex circuits on cards, often a large number of crossing conductors is needed on the card, which then takes up a relatively large constructed space. Furthermore, particularly when the card or printed circuit board is used in the field of power electronics, thermal problems in the form of overheating arise.
The object of the invention under consideration is therefore to further develop a wire-printed circuit board or card of the type mentioned at the beginning in such a way that the disadvantages described above are largely avoided. This object is solved according to the invention by means of the characterising features of Claim 1.
The invention is based on the idea of forming at least some of the conductors laid on a card or printed circuit board so that they have a cross-section that is rectangular or square. The advantages over conductors with a circular cross-section associated with this can particularly be seen in the fact that the interspaces between the individual conductors can be smaller, and so it is possible to achieve a higher packing density. Furthermore, larger line cross-sections can be achieved in the same constructed space, which is advantageous, particularly when conductors are used in power electronics, where large conductive cross-sections are important for reasons of temperature. Furthermore, in the case of larger line cross-sections, a lower line resistance is also achieved, so that even very high currents can be transmitted with a low loss. Hence it is also possible to arrange both the power electronics and the circuit electronics on a single printed circuit board.
Furthermore, crossings of current-carrying conductors formed according to the invention can be realised, because the contact surface of the conductors is larger, and therefore it is easier to insert insulating intermediate layers. Moreover, with given line cross-sections, there is a lower overall height at crossings than with conductors having a circular cross-section.
Advantageous further developments and improvements of the invention specified in Claim 1 are possible by means of the measures given in the dependent claims.
Particularly preferably, for at least some of the conductors with rectangular cross-section, the side with the greater expansion points towards the printed circuit board. The result is then firstly, a flat overall height, and secondly, the possibility of fixing the conductors in place, for example by moulding with an electrically insulating material, on the card more easily because of the slighter tendency to tip or twist.
According to a further development, at least some of the conductors have a hollow cross-section in which a medium circulates. The medium can be a gas or liquid. For example, the medium can be a coolant for cooling the printed circuit board. This development is particularly advantageous when conductors through which high current flows, such as are used in power electronics, are used, because the temperature is reduced in this way. For certain uses of the printed circuit board it can also be advantageous if the medium is a means for heating, e.g., a heated liquid or a gas. This can be advantageous, particularly in cold environments or for quickly reaching the operating temperature of the printed circuit board. It is also possible to compensate large temperature fluctuations of the environment by means of heating or cooling if the printed circuit board is subjected to climate control, so to speak.
In the following, embodiments of the invention are depicted in the drawing and explained in more detail in the subsequent description. Shown in the drawing are:
The electrically insulating printed circuit board, indicated as a whole as 1 in
In addition, power electronics are realised on the printed circuit board 1, with electronic power components that are not shown, with the, for example, etched connection points 4 of these components being connected by means of electrically conductive conductors 6. The conductors 4 therefore contact at defined connection points 4 of electronic components of the circuit the printed circuit board 1. This contacting is brought about by, for example, welding, bonding, soldering, conductive gluing or the like. The conductors 6 are, for example, provided with insulation in order to make it possible to arrange them one above the other in several levels. Such a printed circuit board is designated as the wire-printed circuit board 1. The printed circuit board 1 is furthermore cast on its side facing the conductors 6 to these by means of an electrically insulating compound in a sandwich structure. The structure and manufacture of such a wire-printed circuit board 1 are known, for example, from DE 196 18 917 C1, so that this is not discussed further here. In the case at hand, therefore, a combination of etched strip conductors 2 with wire connections with conductors 6 is realised on the printed circuit board.
According to the invention, at least some of the conductors 6 have a rectangular cross-section, as can be seen in
According to a further embodiment shown in
According to an alternative, the etching of the copper film attached to the surface of the printed circuit board can also always be done after the laying or wire-printing of the conductors, in order to work the connection points out of the copper film. Because these are, however, already known ahead of time according to the existing circuit layout, the connections of the conductors to the connection points, which do not actually exist at the time, can already be produced in advance. Furthermore, the surface of the printed circuit board provided with the conductors can be provided with a covering layer by means of pressing a prepreg made of an insulating compound to the printed circuit board, for example.
In the embodiment according to
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20 2005 001 161.4 | Jan 2005 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP06/00612 | 1/24/2006 | WO | 00 | 10/18/2007 |