Apparatus, System and Method for a Press Connection of Flex Cables

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus, system and method for a direct flex cable to flex cable connection, with guides through which the said flex cables are aligned upon insertion and a pressing mechanism which in its latched state perfectly aligns corresponding guides to each other and by extension also aligns corresponding contact pads on the flex cables, and brings them into firm electrical contact.

Claims

1. An apparatus, system and method for a direct flex cable to flex cable electrical and physical connection, comprising of guides in which the flex cables with exposed conductor pads are aligned when inserted, and in which a pressing mechanism brings the guides into alignment with each other and upon latching brings corresponding exposed conductor pads on the flex cables into firm physical contact with sufficient force to ensure electrical connection. connection system according to claim 1 whereby the guides have alignment marks on their external surface with which corresponding alignment marks on flex cables can be matched during insertion, aiding alignment. connection system according to claims 1 and 2 whereby the pressing mechanism in its latched state perfectly aligns complementary contact pads in the flex cables to be connected and brings them into strong physical contact and ensures firm electrical contact.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:

[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates a flex cable in accordance with one embodiment;

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a flex cable guide in accordance with a further embodiment;

[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates flex cable connector in accordance with still a further embodiment;

[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates flex cable alignment accordance with yet another embodiment; and

[0020] FIG. 5 illustrates a flex cable multi-connector in accordance with yet another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] This invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having,”, “containing”, “involving”, and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 1, a flex cable 100 is illustrated in accordance with one embodiment. According to this embodiment, the flex cable includes gold wires sandwiched between polyimide layers with exposed pad sections 103 employed to complete electrical connections. According to some embodiments, the flex cable is manufactured using nanofabrication methods in which polyimide is spun on a silicon substrate material, gold or aluminum is sputtered (hundreds of nm) on the surface of the substrate before being patterned by photolithography and liftoff. According to these embodiments, a top layer of polyimide is then spun over everything and etched in specific sections. The process exposes the wires where more gold or aluminum is sputtered forming contact pads. According to one embodiment, a 512-wire flex cable e.g. would have a total dimension of a few mm.

[0023] The small size and close spacing of the conductive contact pads requires a highly precise alignment of two flex cables to complete the electrical connections and prevent short circuits. In various embodiments, alignment guides and alignment markers 101 are included to precisely align corresponding pads on the flex cables to be connected during insertion into the connector. Depending on the embodiment, the alignment guides and markers can be made from plastic, metal or etched silicon manufactured to a precise minimum tolerance. The precision tolerance results in exposed pads on the respective cables that are precisely aligned relative to one another when the flex cables are pressed into engagement to complete the electrical connections. The precise minimum tolerances allow electrical connections to be completed by ensuring surface areas of exposed pads are properly aligned despite the micron tolerances required of the application. The embodiments described herein can include other features to assist with the preceding. In further embodiments, additional structures can be included in the contact pads to assist with the same, for example, a tongue and groove mechanism can be included in the exposed pads according to one embodiment.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 2 a flex cable guide 200 is illustrated in accordance with one embodiment. According to this embodiment, the guide includes a slot 205 that has a curved ramp 207 that is open on one side and alignment markers 201-204. The curved ramp gently bends an inserted flex cable upwards, placing its exposed pads protruding slightly from the top profile of the guide at the open section when fully inserted. This protrusion from the curved slot ramps ensures that upon bringing two flex cable guides close together by use of the plate 206, complementary contact pads on the flex cables to be connected are brought into firm electrical contact without interference from the rest of the guide structure. In addition, the slots are designed with tight tolerances so as to perfectly laterally align complementary pads. In addition, according to this embodiment, the guide contains alignment markers 201-204 on the side that will be matched with complementary markers in the flex cable during insertion, for alignment along the insertion axis.

[0025] Referring to FIG. 3, flex cable to flex cable connector 300 is illustrated in accordance with one embodiment. According to this embodiment, the connector includes two complementary flex cable guides 301 and 302 respectively held together and perfectly aligned to each other by a pressing mechanism 307. Further according to this embodiment, the pressing mechanism 307 includes a first plate 306, a second plate 304 and a fastener 305. In this embodiment, the two plates 304, 306 are integrated into the flex cable guides 302 and 301 respectively. In operation, with the flex cable guides 301, 302 properly aligned, the fastener 305 is tightened to squeeze the plates 306, 304 together by pressing with the first plate 306 pressing on the underside of the first alignment guide 301 and the second plate 304 pressing on the top surface of the second alignment element 302. The contact pads of the respective flex cables when inserted into 301, 302 are aligned and pressed together to complete the desired electrical connection. The connection can easily be disconnected by loosening the fastener 305 and physically separating the two guides 301, 302 which separates their respective flex cables that would be inserted.

[0026] Referring to FIG. 4, an apparatus for flex cable alignment is illustrated in accordance with one embodiment. In the illustrated embodiment, a lower flex cable 405 is inserted into a lower flex cable guide 404 where the alignment marks on both the flex cable and flex cable guide are matched 403 for perfect alignment to each other. An upper flex cable 401 similarly inserted into a top flex cable guide 402 is perfectly aligned both laterally and horizontally to the lower flex cable by the pressing mechanism 307 which aligns the two flex cable guides containing inserted and aligned flex cables perfectly in position. As mentioned above, contact pressure can be applied to secure the connections between complementary flex cables.

[0027] The approaches described herein can be scaled to provide configurations that facilitate a connection of thousands of conductors at micron-tolerances. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates a flex cable multi-connector 500 in accordance with yet another embodiment. According to this embodiment, multiple flex cable press connectors as illustrated in FIG. 4 are employed together in a single assembly to connect several pairs of flex cables, respectively.

[0028] Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.