Reconfigurable electronic substrate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9603574-B2
Application number	US-201414574050-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2014
Priority date	Dec 17, 2014
Publication date	Mar 28, 2017
Grant date	Mar 28, 2017

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the fabrication of electrical components and, in particular to the use of a reconfigurable substrate to which a flexible circuit may be affixed. In certain embodiments, the reconfigurable substrate may be moved between different configurations, certain of which are suitable for fabrication and certain of which are suitable for operation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic module, comprising:
a first component having a first planar surface;
one or more additional components rotatably attached to the first component, wherein each additional component comprises a second planar surface that is generally parallel to the first planar surface in a first configuration of the electronic module and is not parallel to the first planar surface in a second configuration of the electronic module; and
a flexible circuit laminated to both the first planar surface and the second planar surfaces, wherein the flexible circuit comprises a first electrical component positioned over the first planar surface and a second electrical component positioned over at least one of the second planar surfaces such that, in the first configuration, the first electrical component and the second electrical component are generally parallel to one another and in the second configuration, the first electrical component and the second electrical component are not parallel to one another.

2. The electronic module of claim 1 , wherein the first component comprises a center pedestal component and the one or more additional components comprise two side leg components, each connected to opposite sides of the center pedestal component by living hinges.

3. The electronic module of claim 2 , wherein the two side leg components, when in the second configuration, cover a surface of the center pedestal component opposite the first planar surface.

4. The electronic module of claim 3 , wherein each side leg component comprise a complementary half of one or more alignment features such that, when in the second configuration, the alignment features are present on a surface opposite the first planar surface.

5. The electronic module of claim 2 , wherein the center pedestal component, when in the second configuration, extends downward from the first planar surface to the same extent as the two side leg components.

6. The electronic module of claim 5 , wherein one or more alignment features are provided on a surface of the center pedestal component opposite the first planar surface.

7. The electronic module of claim 1 , further comprising one or more alignment features that are present on a surface opposite the first planar surface at least when the electronic module is in the second configuration.

8. The electronic module of claim 1 , wherein the first planar surface and the second planar surfaces, when in the first configuration, are vertically offset from one another.

9. The electronic module of claim 1 , wherein the first electrical component of the flexible circuit comprises photodetector circuitry and wherein the second electrical component comprises signal readout electronics.

10. The electronic module of claim 1 , wherein the first component is formed primarily of a first material and the one or more additional components are formed primarily of a second material different from the first material.

11. The electronic module of claim 1 , further comprising one or more protective covers attached to the one or more additional components so as to cover all or part of the second planar surfaces when attached.

12. The electronic module of claim 1 , further comprising one or more locking features formed at least on the one or more additional components, wherein the one or more locking features engage to hold the electronic module closed when in the second configuration.

13. A method for fabricating an electronic module, comprising:
placing an electronic substrate that is in a first configuration into a laminator tool, wherein the electronic substrate comprises a first planar surface and a second planar surface that are generally parallel to one another when in the first configuration;
positioning a flexible circuit on the electronic substrate such that a first circuitry of the flexible circuit is on the first planar surface and a second circuitry of the flexible circuit is on the second planar surface;
laminating the flexible circuit onto the electronic substrate;
removing the electronic substrate from the laminator tool; and
reconfiguring the electronic substrate into a second configuration in which the first planar surface and the second planar surface are not parallel to one another.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the placing the electronic substrate into the laminator tool comprises placing the electronic substrate into an assembly fixture that compensates for height differences between portions of the electronic substrate underlying the first planar surface and the second planar surface.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the reconfiguring the electronic substrate comprises engaging locking features provided on the electronic substrate.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first circuitry of the flexible circuit comprises photodetection circuitry and the second circuitry comprises signal electronics.

17. The method of claim 13 , comprising placing the electronic substrate, when in the second configuration, into an electronic device using alignment features present on the electronic substrate when in the second configuration.

18. An imaging system, comprising:
a signal detection component comprising one or more detector modules, wherein each detector module comprises:
an electronic substrate movable between at least a first configuration and a second configuration, wherein the first configuration has two or more planar surfaces that are generally parallel to one another while in the second configuration the two or more planar surface are not parallel to one another;
a flex circuit laminated onto the electronic substrate, wherein the flex circuit is laminated onto the two or more planar surfaces; and
one or more alignment features present on the electronic substrate that mate with complementary features present in an interface with the signal detection component.

19. The imaging system of claim 18 , wherein the signal detection component comprises one of a radiation detector, an ultrasound transducer, or a magnetic resonance imaging coil.

20. The imaging system of claim 18 , wherein the flex circuit comprises different circuitries positioned over each of the respective two or more surfaces.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Rose James Wilson
• Sherman Donna Marie
• Erlbaum Jeffrey Scott

Classifications

• A61B6/00 Primary

  Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis; Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis combined with radiation therapy equipment (instruments measuring radiation intensity for application in the field of nuclear medicine, e.g. in vivo counting, G01T1/161) · CPC title

• G01R33/34007

  Manufacture of RF coils, e.g. using printed circuit board technology; additional hardware for providing mechanical support to the RF coil assembly or to part thereof, e.g. a support for moving the coil assembly relative to the remainder of the MR system · CPC title

• G10K11/32

  characterised by the shape of the source · CPC title

• A61B6/032

  Transmission computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61B6/035

  Mechanical aspects of CT · CPC title