3D formed LDS liner and method of manufacturing liner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9914184-B2
Application number	US-201514873821-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2015
Priority date	Oct 2, 2015
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a 3D LDS liner includes providing an LDS sheet, forming 3D contoured liners in the LDS sheet, laser structuring circuit patterns on the 3D contoured liners to provide a laser structured circuit pattern, selectively plating the laser structured circuit patterns to form circuits on the 3D contoured liners, and removing the 3D contoured liners from the LDS sheet. A formed LDS liner includes a thin LDS film having a 3D contoured surface vacuum formed from an LDS sheet. The LDS film includes an inner surface and an outer surface. A laser structured circuit pattern is etched into the LDS film, and a conductive layer is selectively plated on the laser structured circuit pattern forming a circuit on the LDS film. The circuit may have a non-planar region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a 3D LDS liner, the method comprising:
providing an LDS sheet;
forming 3D contoured liners in the LDS sheet;
laser structuring circuit patterns on the 3D contoured liners to provide laser structured circuit patterns;
selectively plating the laser structured circuit patterns to form circuits on the 3D contoured liners; and
removing the 3D contoured liners from the LDS sheet.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising placing the 3D contoured liners in corresponding electronic devices such that the liners closely follow 3D contoured surfaces of the electronic devices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said providing an LDS sheet comprises providing an LDS sheet having a thickness less than 0.3 mm.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said forming 3D contoured liners comprises forming the planar LDS sheet into non-planar liners.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said forming the 3D contoured liners comprises vacuum forming the liners.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said laser structuring circuit patterns comprises laser structuring circuit patterns on both an inner surface of the liner and an outer surface of the liner.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said selectively plating the laser structured circuit patterns comprises plating the laser structured circuit patterns on both the inner surface and the outer surface to form circuits on both the inner surface and the outer surface.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising electrically coupling the circuits on the inner and outer surfaces by plated through holes through the liner.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising electrically coupling the circuits on the inner and outer surfaces by capacitively coupling the circuits.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said providing an LDS sheet comprises providing the LDS sheet between reels, said method further comprising continuously processing the LDS sheet.

11. A formed LDS liner comprising:
a LDS film having a 3D contoured surface vacuum formed from an LDS sheet, the LDS film including an inner surface and an outer surface,
a laser structured circuit pattern etched into at least one of the inner surface and the outer surface of the LDS film;
a conductive layer selectively plated on the laser structured circuit pattern forming a circuit on the LDS film, the circuit having a non-planar region.

12. The formed LDS liner of claim 11 , wherein the LDS film has a uniform thickness less than 1.0 mm.

13. The formed LDS liner of claim 11 , wherein the LDS film is formed from an LDS sheet having a thickness less than 0.3 mm.

14. The formed LDS liner of claim 11 , wherein the LDS film includes a pocket including a base and a wall extending away from the base, the laser structured circuit pattern and the circuit being formed on both the base and the wall.

15. The formed LDS liner of claim 11 , wherein the laser structured circuit pattern and the circuit are formed on both the inner surface and the outer surface.

16. The formed LDS liner of claim 15 , wherein the circuits on the inner and outer surfaces are electrically coupled by plated through holes through the LDS film.

17. The formed LDS liner of claim 15 , wherein the circuits on the inner and outer surfaces are electrically coupled by capacitively coupling the circuits on the inner and outer surfaces.

18. The formed LDS liner of claim 11 , wherein the laser structured circuit pattern forms an antenna pattern, the conductive layer forming an antenna circuit.

19. The formed LDS liner of claim 11 , wherein the LDS film includes a pocket including a base and a wall extending away from the base, the LDS film including a protrusion in the pocket extending away from the base, the circuit being formed on the protrusion, the base and the wall, the portion of the circuit on the protrusion forming a contact pad for connecting to an electrical component.

20. An electronic device comprising:
a housing having a cavity with a contoured surface;
a formed LDS liner received in the cavity against the contoured surface, the formed LDS liner comprising a LDS film having a 3D contoured surface vacuum formed from an LDS sheet, the LDS film including an inner surface and an outer surface, the formed LDS liner comprising a laser structured circuit pattern etched into the LDS film, and the formed LDS liner comprising a conductive layer selectively plated on the laser structured circuit pattern forming a circuit on the LDS film, the circuit having a non-planar region, the 3D contoured surface of the formed LDS liner being received in the cavity in registration with the contoured surface of the housing.

Assignees

• Tyco Electronics Corp
• Tyco Electronics Amp Korea Co Ltd
• Te Connectivity Corp

Inventors

• Bishop Bruce
• Kim Jung Hoon
• Park June Gun

Classifications

• B23K26/34

  Laser welding for purposes other than joining · CPC title

• H01Q1/243 Primary

  with built-in antennas · CPC title

• B23K26/351 Primary

  for trimming or tuning of electrical components · CPC title

• B23K26/0087

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• H01Q1/241

  used in mobile communications, e.g. GSM (H01Q1/247, H01Q1/248 take precedence) · CPC title