Thermoforming device and method for flexible circuit board

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12575033-B2
Application number	US-202218546511-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 7, 2022
Priority date	Feb 18, 2021
Publication date	Mar 10, 2026
Grant date	Mar 10, 2026

Abstract

Disclosed are a thermoforming device and method for a flexible printed circuit board. The thermoforming device may include: a first forming mechanism provided with a first forming portion, the first forming portion being configured to carry the flexible printed circuit board to be processed; a second forming mechanism provided with a second forming portion which matches with the first forming portion, at least one of the first forming portion or the second forming portion is provided with a corresponding heating module configured for heat treatment of the flexible printed circuit board; a first driving mechanism configured to drive the first forming mechanism and the second forming mechanism to be displaced relative to each other in a first direction; a second driving mechanism configured to drive the second forming mechanism and the first forming mechanism to be displaced relative to each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and a controller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A thermoforming device for a flexible printed circuit board, comprising:
a first forming mechanism provided with a first forming portion, the first forming portion being configured to carry the flexible printed circuit board to be processed; a second forming mechanism provided with a second forming portion which matches with the first forming portion, wherein at least one of the first forming portion or the second forming portion is provided with a corresponding heater configured for heat treatment of the flexible printed circuit board; a first driving mechanism configured to drive the first forming mechanism and the second forming mechanism to be displaced relative to each other in a first direction; a second driving mechanism configured to drive the second forming mechanism and the first forming mechanism to be displaced relative to each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and a controller configured to control the first driving mechanism to drive at least one of the first forming mechanism or the second forming mechanism to move to a preset position in the first direction and control the second driving mechanism to drive at least one of the first forming mechanism or the second forming mechanism to move relative to each other in the second direction to press the flexible printed circuit board, and thermally bend the flexible printed circuit board to a preset shape by performing the heat treatment on the flexible printed circuit board by the heater to make the flexible printed circuit board have plasticity; wherein the first forming mechanism is provided with a limiting portion configured to fix the flexible printed circuit board; wherein both ends of the flexible printed circuit board are provided with a protruding connector, the limiting portion is provided on each of two opposite sides of the first forming portion, the limiting portion is a limiting groove matching with the protruding connector.

2 . The thermoforming device of claim 1 , wherein the thermoforming device further comprises a supporting mechanism, and the supporting mechanism comprises a first supporting portion configured to support the first forming mechanism, a second supporting portion configured to support the second forming mechanism, and a connecting portion connecting the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion.

3 . The thermoforming device of claim 2 , wherein the first driving mechanism comprises a first driving component and a second driving component, the first driving component being connected to the first supporting portion, and the second driving component being connected to the first driving component and the first forming mechanism.

4 . The thermoforming device of claim 3 , wherein at least two first forming mechanisms are provided and are arranged spaced apart on the second driving component.

5 . The thermoforming device of claim 3 , further comprising a positioning mechanism configured to acquire relative position information of the first forming mechanism and the second forming mechanism, so that the controller controls at least one of the first driving mechanism or the second driving mechanism to perform a corresponding operation based on the relative position information.

6 . The thermoforming device of claim 5 , wherein the positioning mechanism comprises an image acquisition device configured to acquire image information of the first forming mechanism and the second forming mechanism so as to acquire the relative position information based on the image information.

7 . The thermoforming device of claim 5 , wherein the positioning mechanism is connected to the second driving mechanism.

8 . A thermoforming method for a flexible printed circuit board, applied to a thermoforming device for the flexible printed circuit board, wherein the thermoforming device comprises:
a first forming mechanism provided with a first forming portion, the first forming portion being configured to carry the flexible printed circuit board to be processed; a second forming mechanism provided with a second forming portion which matches with the first forming portion, wherein at least one of the first forming portion or the second forming portion is provided with a corresponding heater configured for heat treatment of the flexible printed circuit board; a first driving mechanism configured to drive the first forming mechanism and the second forming mechanism to be displaced relative to each other in a first direction; and a second driving mechanism configured to drive the second forming mechanism and the first forming mechanism to be displaced relative to each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and the method comprises:
acquiring a control signal; and
controlling, based on the control signal, the first driving mechanism to drive at least one of the first forming mechanism or the second forming mechanism to move to a preset position in the first direction and controlling the second driving mechanism to drive at least one of the first forming mechanism or the second forming mechanism to move relative to each other in the second direction to press the flexible printed circuit board, and thermally bend the flexible printed circuit board to a preset shape by performing the heat treatment on the flexible printed circuit board by the heater to make the flexible printed circuit board have plasticity;
wherein the first forming mechanism is provided with a limiting portion configured to fix the flexible printed circuit board;
wherein both ends of the flexible printed circuit board are provided with a protruding connector, the limiting portion is provided on each of two opposite sides of the first forming portion, the limiting portion is a limiting groove matching with the protruding connector.

Assignees

• Zte Corp

Inventors

• Chen Da
• Wang Fengying
• Li Yiming
• Nie Fugang
• Liu Zhe
• Wang Feng
• Shi Yichuo

Classifications

• H05K2203/1105

  Heating or thermal processing not related to soldering, firing, curing or laminating, e.g. for shaping the substrate or during finish plating · CPC title

• H05K2203/0278

  Flat pressure, e.g. for connecting terminals with anisotropic conductive adhesive · CPC title

• H05K2203/0108

  Male die used for patterning, punching or transferring · CPC title

• H05K3/0014 Primary

  Shaping of the substrate, e.g. by moulding · CPC title

• B29L2007/00

  Flat articles, e.g. films or sheets (B29L2024/00 takes precedence) · CPC title