← Back to Patent Explorer
EP0189975A1 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Manufacture of printed circuit boards

Assignee: Prestwick Circuits Ltd
•
Filing: 1986-01-09
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2006-01-09
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A double sided lamination of dielectric substrate and copper foil is processed to give a p.c.b. having conductor tracks (18) formed by the original copper, and holes (16) and pads (22) plated relatively thickly. The process comprises - negative imaging - etching, to give track pattern - electroless copper plating all over - positive pad imaging - electroplating with copper-tin/lead or copper-nickel-tin/lead - etching to remove unplated electroless copper

Inventors

  • 👤 Christopher Rivett

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-30 06:13
CPC Classifications
H; H05; H05K; H05K3/00; H05K3/40; H05K3/42; H05K3/425; H05K3/428; H05K3/22; H05K3/24; H05K3/243; H05K1/00; H05K1/02; H05K1/09; H05K2201/00; H05K2201/03; H05K2201/0332; H05K2201/0335; H05K2201/0341; H05K2203/00; H05K2203/05; H05K2203/0502; H05K2203/0542; H05K3/244; H05K3/30; H05K3/32; H05K3/34; H05K3/3452; H05K3/3465; H05K3/3473

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim 1 words
Claims
Claim 2
Independent Claim 121 words
A method of manufacturing a printed circuit board comprising: providing a board having at least one face covered with a conductive foil, and drilling the board with a predetermined hole pattern; characterised by the steps of: removing the foil except in the desired track areas by application of an etch resist pattern followed by etching and removal of the resist, coating the board including the holes with a relatively thin layer of conductive material by electroless deposition, applying a plating resist to mask all areas except holes, pads and any other desired functional areas, depositing a relatively thick layer of conductive material on the unmasked areas, including the holes, by electroplating, removing the mask material, and etching away the electroless layer.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 32 words
The method of claim 1, in which the etch resist pattern is created by applying a negative photoresist material, exposing thereon a negative image of the desired pattern, and developing the photoresist.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 36 words
The method of claim 1 or claim 2, in which the plating resist mask is created by applying a negative photoresist material, exposing thereon a positive image of the desired pad pattern, and developing the photoresist.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 14 words
4 . The method of any preceding claim, in which the foil is copper.
Claim 6
Independent Claim 18 words
The method of any preceding claim, in which the electroless layer is copper, preferably about 2.5 µm thick.
Claim 7
Independent Claim 21 words
The method of any preceding claim, in which the electroplating step comprises electroplating copper, nickel, and tin/lead in three successive stages.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 20 words
The method of claim 6, in which a further layer of copper is electroplated between the nickel and the tin/lead.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 42 words
The method of claim 6 or claim 7, in which the electroplated copper layer is about 20-25 µm thick, and the nickel and tin/lead layers are each about 8-12 µm thick, the further copper layer if present being about 5 um thick.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method of any of claim 1 to 5, in which the electroplating step comprises plating copper about 30-35 µm thick.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4118523A Cited
FR2332677A1 Cited
US4104111A Cited
GB2095040A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag