COMPONENT, POSITIONING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FASTENING THE COMPONENT BY SOLDERING

Abstract

A component having electrical connector elements for making contact with a circuit board, optionally having additional securing elements for mechanical stability after soldering or positioning devices for supporting components with an unfavourable center of gravity or supporting elements which can optionally be removed after the soldering process. The positioning devices or supporting elements serve to position components with different forms on a circuit board and to keep them in the correct orientation for the soldering process. Fitting takes place in a force-free manner and thus favours automation and the use of for example pick-and-place robots which take hold of and move the particular component via the positioning device connected thereto, engaging with and/or around either a contact element or a supporting element. The support of the positioning device allows a stable state during the soldering process. In a corresponding manner, methods for carrying out the soldering processes are specified.

Claims

1. A component having electrical connection elements for making contact with a printed circuit board, comprising a positioning device which has at least one support for releasably supporting the positioning device on the printed circuit board and at least one holding element which can be releasably connected to the component and which, when the component is mounted on a printed circuit board, can be arranged such that it holds the component.

2. The component as claimed in claim 1, comprising at least one supporting element which is releasably connected to the component and serves at least to temporarily support the component when it is mounted on a printed circuit board.

3. The component as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding element is designed such that it at least partially encompasses a contact element, which is located on the component, in the connected state and/or such that it engages into the contact element or such that it at least partially encompasses the at least one supporting element.

4. The component as claimed in claim 1, comprising at least one fixing element which, for mechanical fixing to the printed circuit board, has a shaft having at least one latching means which acts in the axial direction.

5. A component having electrical connection elements for making contact with a printed circuit board, comprising at least one supporting element which is releasably connected to the component and serves at least to temporarily support the component when it is mounted on a printed circuit board.

6. A positioning device for fastening a component on a printed circuit board by soldering, wherein the component has electrical connection elements for making contact with a printed circuit board, comprising at least one holding element, which can be releasably connected to the component, and at least one support, wherein, when the component is mounted on a printed circuit board, the positioning device can be arranged on a printed circuit board such that it holds the component by means of the holding element and such that it is releasably supported by way of the support.

7. The positioning device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the at least one holding element is designed such that it can at least partially encompass a contact element or a supporting element which is located on the component and/or such that it can engage into the contact element.

8. A method for fastening a component by soldering as claimed in claim 1 on a printed circuit board, comprising: providing the printed circuit board having contact bores; arranging the component on the printed circuit board with the electrical connection elements in the contact bores; releasably arranging, in a manner supporting the component, the at least one holding element of the positioning device on the printed circuit board, wherein the holding element at least partially encompasses the contact element or the supporting element and/or engages into the contact element; filling the at least one contact bore with a liquid soldering material and solidifying the soldering material; or melting and solidifying a soldering material which is already located in the at least one contact bores; and removing the positioning device.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 with a component having electrical connection elements for making contact with a printed circuit board, comprising a positioning device which has at least one support for releasably supporting the positioning device on the printed circuit board and at least one holding element which can be releasably connected to the component and which, when the component is mounted on a printed circuit board, can be arranged such that it holds the component, and comprising at least one fixing element which, for mechanical fixing to the printed circuit board, has a shaft having at least one latching means which acts in the axial direction, the method: additionally providing at least one, metallized, capturing bore in the printed circuit board, wherein the at least one capturing bore at least has a diameter which is larger than the cross section of the fixing element, so that the fixing element can be inserted into the capturing bore without force; filling the at least one contact bore and the at least one capturing bore with a liquid soldering material and solidifying the soldering material; or melting and solidifying a soldering material which is already located the at least one contact bores and the at least one capturing bore.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one supporting element is removed after the soldering material has solidified.

11. A method for fastening, by soldering, a component having electrical connection elements for making contact with a printed circuit board and at least one fixing element for mechanically fixing the component to the printed circuit board, wherein the at least one fixing element has a shaft having at least one latching means which acts in the axial direction, comprising: providing a printed circuit board having contact bores and having at least one capturing bore, wherein the at least one capturing bore at least has a diameter which is larger than the cross section of the fixing element, so that the fixing element can be inserted into the capturing bore without force; arranging the component on the printed circuit board with the electrical connection elements in the contact bores and the at least one latching means of the fixing element of the component in the at least one capturing bore of the printed circuit board without force, so that the latching means of the fixing element is positioned in the capturing bore or through the capturing bore; filling the at least one contact bore and the at least one capturing bore with a liquid soldering material and solidifying the soldering material; or melting and solidifying a soldering material which is already located the at least one contact bores and the at least one capturing bore.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, comprising arranging at least one positioning device having at least one holding element, which can be releasably connected to the component, and at least one support on the printed circuit board or an adjacent printed circuit board, wherein the at least one positioning device holds the component by means of the holding element and is releasably supported on a printed circuit board by way of the support, and removing the positioning device after the soldering material has solidified.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the at least one holding element at least partially encompasses a contact element or a supporting element which is located on the component and/or engages into the contact element.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, comprising arranging a component having at least one additional supporting element on the printed circuit board, wherein the supporting element supports the component on the printed circuit board or an adjacent printed circuit board.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the at least one supporting element is removed after the soldering material has solidified.

Description

[0037] The individual features of the invention can be implemented on their own or severally in different embodiments invention. In the drawings,

[0038] FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a component, a positioning device and a printed circuit board before mounting;

[0039] FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of the component, the positioning device and the printed circuit board in the state in which they are mounted on the printed circuit board;

[0040] FIG. 3 shows a schematic illustration of a preferred embodiment of the component having the supporting element, the positioning device and the printed circuit board and also the arrangement thereof before mounting (FIG. 3(a)) and in the mounted state (FIG. 3(b)); and

[0041] FIG. 4 shows the individual method steps for fastening the fixing element to the printed circuit board by soldering.

[0042] The exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 shows the schematic design, in a side view, of the components involved according to the invention, comprising a printed circuit board 1, a component 4 and a positioning device 14. The printed circuit board 1 has a plurality of bores 2, 18 which are oriented in relation to one another such that they can all receive connection elements 5 to be soldered and all fixing elements 8 of a component 4 at the same time. At least one component support arrangement 21 is usually provided in the vicinity of the connection elements 5. The bores 2, 18 have different diameters depending on what is intended to be received, as a result of which the capturing bores 2, illustrated here, for receiving the fixing element 8 are distinguished from the contact bores 18, for receiving the connection elements 5, by virtue of an enlarged diameter. The component 4 comprises the arrangement consisting of electrical connection elements 5, the at least one fixing element 8, wherein said fixing element has a shaft 9 and a latching hook 11 which adjoins the shaft 9, for example a screw thread 19 for receiving a device plug-in connector, not illustrated here, and an electrical contact element 6 having electrical contacts 7. In this schematic illustration, the contact element 6 is designed as a two-pole plug owing to the shown arrangement of the electrical contacts 7. The positioning device 14 comprises a support 16 by way of which the positioning device 14 can be placed in a stationary manner on the printed circuit board 1, and also a holding element 15 that is designed in a complementary manner in relation to the two-pole plug arrangement of the electrical contact element 6.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of the expedient arrangement of the structural parts presented in FIG. 1. The component 4 is oriented in relation to the printed circuit board 1 in such a way that its longitudinal extent runs parallel in relation to the surface of the printed circuit board 1 and, at the same time, firstly the electrical connection elements 5 are received in the contact bores 18 and secondly the fixing element 8 is received in the capturing bore 2. The fixing element 8 is guided through the capturing bore 2 to such an extent that the latching hook 11 is preferably located completely below that surface of the printed circuit board 1 which is averted from the component 4 and the shaft 9 is surrounded by the capturing bore 2. The positioning device 14 is positioned in a stationary manner on the printed circuit board 1 by means of the support 16 and encompasses the electrical contacts 7 of the contact element 6 of the component 4 in a complementary manner by means of the holding element 15.

[0044] Analogously to FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 3 shows a further exemplary embodiment in the form of a schematic illustration of a front view of the parts of the component 4 which are involved according to the invention (FIG. 3(a)) and the arrangement thereof (FIG. 3(b)). In this embodiment, a supporting element 13 is formed on the component 4, which supporting element is releasably connected to the component 4 by means of a predetermined breaking fold 20. In the arrangement in FIG. 3(b), the positioning device 14 is positioned in a stationary manner on the printed circuit board 1 by means of the support 16 and encompasses the component 4 in a complementary manner to the supporting element 3 by means of the holding element 15, so that the component 4 can be held in a stable manner in the correct soldering position for the soldering process. According to another exemplary embodiment, not illustrated, the supporting element 13 can be angled and as a result be self-supported on the printed circuit board 1 without a positioning device 14. Depending on requirements, the respective supporting element 13 can be broken after the soldering process is complete. The number of supporting elements 13, in particular the self-supporting supporting elements 13 (not illustrated), is arbitrary.

[0045] FIG. 4 shows a view of a detail of the fixing elements 8 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and represents the method steps for fastening the fixing element 8 to the printed circuit board 1 by soldering in the sequence of FIG. 4(a) to FIG. 4(c). For the purpose of populating the printed circuit board 1, the component 4 is guided, by way of the shaft 9 which is located on the fixing element 8 and the latching hook 11 which adjoins the shaft 9, through the capturing bore 2. The diameter of the capturing bore 2 is selected to be large enough that the latching hook 11 with the latching cross section 12 can be guided through the capturing bore 2 from FIG. 4(a) to FIG. 4(b) without force and is positioned directly below the printed circuit board 2. As a result, the capturing bore 2 in FIG. 4(b) surrounds the shaft 9 with a shaft cross section 10 and therefore forms a cavity which is delimited by the capturing bore 2, which is provided with a metal coating 3, and the shaft 9 which is additionally delimited at the bottom by the latching hook 11. In FIG. 4(c), this cavity is filled with soldering material 17 in such a way that, owing to the metal-coated 3 inner sides of the capturing bore 2, the solder 17 is drawn into the capturing bore 2 due to, for example, a capillary effect and in this way surrounds the shaft 9 of the fixing element 8.