Stretchable printed electronic sheets to electrically connect uneven two dimensional and three dimensional surfaces

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9398705-B2
Application number	US-201414558357-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2014
Priority date	Dec 2, 2014
Publication date	Jul 19, 2016
Grant date	Jul 19, 2016

Abstract

A method and apparatus for forming a conductor on an uneven two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) surface is described. An amount of conductive material needed to form a conductor between two points on a surface of an object is determined. The determined amount of conductive material is deposited on a substrate. The substrate with the deposited conductive material is applied to the object to form a conductor between the two points on the surface of the object. The conductive material and substrate may be stretchable. The conductive material may be deposited by an inkjet printer or an embedded 3-D printer. The substrate with the deposited conductive material may be applied to the object by laminating the substrate with the deposited conductive material to the object.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for forming a conductor on an uneven two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) surface, the method comprising:
determining an amount of conductive material to form a conductor between two points on a surface of an object;
depositing the determined amount of conductive material on a substrate; and
applying the substrate with the deposited conductive material to the object to form a conductor between the two points on the surface of the object.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material is a stretchable conductive material.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a stretchable substrate.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material is deposited on the substrate by an inkjet printer that prints conductive material onto the surface of the substrate.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material is deposited on the substrate by an embedded three-dimensional (3-D) printer that deposits conductive material into a reservoir within the substrate.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material is deposited in a horseshoe pattern on the substrate.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate with the deposited conductive material is applied to the object by laminating the substrate with the deposited conductive material to the object.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object has at least one uneven surface between the two points.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the conductor is formed over the at least one uneven surface between the two points.

Assignees

• Flextronics Ap Llc
• Flextronics Ap Llc

Inventors

• Mohammed Anwar
• Liu Weifeng
• Kurwa Murad

Classifications

• H05K3/125

  by ink-jet printing · CPC title

• H05K1/0283 Primary

  Stretchable printed circuits · CPC title

• H05K3/1275

  by other printing techniques, e.g. letterpress printing, intaglio printing, lithographic printing, offset printing · CPC title

• H05K3/1258

  by using a substrate provided with a shape pattern, e.g. grooves, banks, resist pattern · CPC title

• H05K3/4673

  Application methods or materials of intermediate insulating layers not specially adapted to any one of the previous methods of adding a circuit layer (similar methods for protective coatings H05K3/28) · CPC title