Printed Circuit Board And Sensor

Abstract

A printed circuit board having conductor tracks formed on one side of a substrate. The substrate is able to be cohesively bonded at a contact face to a cover for protecting the conductor tracks. In this case, the substrate includes a step, which forms a barrier with respect to an auxiliary material for promoting the cohesive bond, in order to prevent any wetting of the conductor tracks with the auxiliary material. A sensor having a printed circuit board for use in a fuel filling level measurement system of a vehicle.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. A printed circuit board comprising: a cover; a substrate bonded by a cohesive bond at a contact face to the cover; conductor tracks formed on one side of the substrate, the conductor tracks protected by the cover; an auxiliary material for promoting the cohesive bond; and a step arranged in the substrate configured to form a barrier with respect to the auxiliary material for promoting the cohesive bond to prevent any wetting of the conductor tracks with the auxiliary material.

17. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, wherein, the step of the substrate is arranged on an inside with respect to the contact face of the substrate.

18. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, wherein the step is formed in a substrate-reinforcing manner.

19. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, wherein the step comprises the contact face.

20. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, wherein the step is formed at least in one layer.

21. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 20, wherein the step comprises: a first layer; a second layer; and a third layer that forms the barrier.

22. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, wherein the step contains metal.

23. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 22, wherein the step is formed from a silver-containing sintering paste.

24. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, wherein the step is formed in a manner encircling the conductor tracks.

25. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 24, wherein the step is formed in a continuously encircling manner.

26. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, wherein the step is formed along edges of the substrate.

27. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, wherein the substrate (1) is formed from a sintered ceramic.

28. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 16, configured as a sensor.

29. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 28, wherein the sensor is a fuel filling level measurement system.

30. The printed circuit board as claimed in claim 29, wherein the fuel filling level measurement system is arranged in a vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] The invention will be explained in detail in the following text with reference to the illustrations in the figures. Further advantageous developments of the invention can be gathered from the dependent claims and the following description of preferred embodiments. In the drawings:

[0033] FIG. 1 is a printed circuit board according to the prior art;

[0034] FIG. 2 is a printed circuit board according to the invention;

[0035] FIG. 3 is a possible step configuration; and

[0036] FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an arrangement made up of a printed circuit board and a cover or cover plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0037] Identical features or features having an identical effect are denoted by the same reference signs throughout the figures.

[0038] FIG. 1 illustrates a printed circuit board 10, known from the prior art, of a MAPPS (MAgnetic Passive Position Sensor). The printed circuit board 10 comprises a substrate 1, which is formed from an alumina sintered ceramic. The substrate 1 is printed on one side with conductor tracks 2, which may have been applied by the stencil printing or screen printing method. In addition, the substrate 1 has, along its edges, a continuously encircling contact face 2 or layer, which surrounds the conductor tracks 2. Both the conductor tracks 2 and the contact face 2 or layer are in this case formed from a metal-containing sintering paste. This is expediently the same material, for instance a silver-containing sintering paste. The thickness of these layers is also expediently identical. The contact face 2 or layer is able to be cohesively bonded to a corresponding metal or at least metalized cover, such that the printed substrate side can be hermetically sealed and consequently remains free of contamination and corrosion.

[0039] FIG. 2 illustrates a further developed printed circuit board 10, in which both conductor tracks 2 made of the metal-containing sintering paste and a resistance track 8 or layerwhich is not illustrated as such in FIG. 1have been printed on that side of the substrate 1 that is to be covered. Both the conductor tracks 2 and the resistance track 8 have been applied by the stencil printing or screen printing method.

[0040] Analogously to FIG. 1, the conductor tracks 2 and the resistance track 8 are surrounded by the continuously encircling contact face 2 or layer, which has been printed on along the edges of the substrate 1, in order to ensure a hermetic seal with a correspondingly bondable cover. This contact face 2 consists here of the same sintering paste as is also used for the conductor tracks 2. This contact face 2 is furthermore adjoined by a step 3 which, with regard to the substrate 1, is arranged on the inside with respect to the contact face 2 and which is formed, analogously to the contact face 2, in a continuously encircling manner such that it surrounds the conductor tracks 2 and the resistance track 8.

[0041] The step 3 acts here as a barrier with respect to a flux with which the contact face 2 is wetted, in order to promote the cohesive bond between the contact face 2 and a corresponding contact face of the cover by a solder.

[0042] FIG. 3 illustrates the peripheral region 7 of the substrate 1 shown in FIG. 2 in a cross-sectional illustration. Specifically, one possible embodiment of the step 3 can be seen. The step 3 in this case comprises the contact face 2 or layer of the sintering paste, i.e., the contact face transitions directly into the step. Or, put another way, the step directly adjoins the contact face, such that the substrate thickness is increased or enhanced.

[0043] Starting from the edge of the substrate 1, the thickness of the sintering paste changes from Y to Y by way of a substantially positive step or flank jump. The width of the sintering paste corresponds to X and the width of the step corresponds to X. In this example, Y=0.015 mm, Y=0.025 mm and X=1.2 mm, X=0.7 mm.

[0044] The sintering paste, including the contact face portion and the step, is in this case formed in one layer. To this end, the sintering paste is printed onto the ceramic substrate by a corresponding stencil or by a corresponding screen. The stencil or screen is in this case formed in a correspondingly finely woven manner, such that it allows such a stepped imprint on the substrate. Alternatively, the sintering paste can also be applied in layers (cf. FIG. 4).

[0045] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 illustrate a particularly simple and at the same time effective embodiment of a substrate-reinforcing step, which has the shape of a substantially positively stepped substrate reinforcement with at least one step or flank. In principle, however, other steps with both positive or substrate-reinforcing portions and negative or substrate-weakening portions are also conceivable in order to prevent the undesired wetting, mentioned at the beginning, of other faces, not intended to be wetted, of the populated substrate side.

[0046] FIG. 4 illustrates a multilayer structure of a sintering paste printed on in a stepped manner along the edges of the substrate 1. This sintering paste in this case comprises a first layer 2, a second layer 2, or reinforcing layer, and a third layer 3, wherein the first and second layer 2, 2 form the contact face portion, onto which the third layer 3 is printed in order to act as a barrier.

[0047] The thickness of the first layer 2 corresponds in this case to the layer thickness of the indicated conductor track 2, over which an indicated contact spring element 4 extends. The stepped sintering paste portion 2, 2, 3 and the conductor track 2 in this case consist expediently of the same material, for example of the abovementioned silver-containing sintering paste.

[0048] An alumina sintered ceramic printed in this way, which is already fully sintered before the sintering pastes 2, 2, 3 are printed on, finally passes through a sintering furnace, in which the sintering pastes 2, 2, 3 are dried and sintered. In the process, the sintering pastes 2, 2, 3 are compacted and solidified to form a physically solid structure and in the process form a cohesive bond with the alumina sintered ceramic.

[0049] Such a substrate or carrier material is suitable for a high-temperature or sintering process using what is referred to as LTCC (Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics) or HTCC (High Temperature Cofired Ceramics) technology, i.e. for a treatment at about 950 C. or even at about 1500 C.

[0050] An indicated cover 5 is cohesively bonded to the contact face 2 by means of a solder 6. The cover 5 does not in this case bear on the barrier 3, even if it easily could. The solder 6 is in this case applied to the substrate edge and accordingly spaced apart from the barrier 3. In principle, however, the solder can also bear on the barrier.

[0051] A barrier according to FIG. 3 or FIG. 4 effectively prevents the wetting of the conductor track 2 and thus also the wetting of the contact spring element 4 with the flux. This stops the contact spring element 4 from adhering to the conductor tract 2 as a result of such wetting.

[0052] Although exemplary embodiments have been discussed in the above description, it should be noted that numerous modifications are possible. Furthermore, it should be noted that the exemplary embodiments are merely examples which are not intended to limit the scope of protection, applications and structure in any way. Rather, the above description will provide a person skilled in the art with a guideline for implementing at least one exemplary embodiment, wherein various modifications, in particular with regard to the function and arrangement of the described constituent parts, may be made without departing from the scope of protection as defined by the claims and by these equivalent combinations of features.