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US4897326A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Process to manufacture printed circuit boards

Assignee: Alcatel Lucent Italia SpA
•
Filing: 1986-03-03
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Granted: 1990-01-30
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Expires: 2006-03-03
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Abstract

Abstract Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are disclosed comprising a support which on a major side carries circuit components in a desired design and on a second major side carries the soldered wires corresponding to said circuit components. Manufacturing of the PCBs is carried out by producing respective designs of the component and soldering sides as labile electrostatic images on which conductive metallic powder (toner) is applied. The so obtained images are printed on respective insulating sheets, one with the component side design, and another with the solder side design. The thus printed sheets are fixed on the PCB support, and the conductive designs are treated to increase the thickness of the design.

Inventors

  • 👤 Giuseppe Marengo

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-10 00:56
CPC Classifications
H; H05; H05K; H05K3/00; H05K3/10; H05K3/20; H05K3/207; H05K3/12; H05K3/1266; H05K2201/00; H05K2201/03; H05K2201/0332; H05K2201/0335; H05K2201/0347; H05K2203/00; H05K2203/05; H05K2203/0502; H05K2203/0517

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim 136 words
A process for manufacturing printed circuit boards including a rigid support carrying, on a first major side, circuit components distributed according to a desired design, and, on a second major side, soldered wires corresponding to the circuit components, wherein the process comprises the steps of: producing on a photoconductive surface respective labile electrostatic images of the desired designs of said circuit components and of said soldered wires; applying electrically conductive material on said labile images on said surface; transferring the so-distributed conductive material from said surface onto respective insulating sheets by printing; affixing the insulating sheets to opposite sides of said rigid support; treating said insulating sheets to increase the thickness of said conductive material; and processing the resulting structure to complete a printed circuit board suitable for supporting the circuit components and the soldered wires.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 136 words
A process for manufacturing printed circuit boards including a rigid support carrying, on a first major side, circuit components distributed according to a desired design, and, on a second major side, soldered wires corresponding to the circuit components, wherein the process comprises the steps of: producing on a photoconductive surface respective labile electrostatic images of the desired designs of said circuit components and of said soldered wires; applying electrically conductive material on said labile images on said surface; transferring the so-distributed conductive material from said surface onto respective insulating sheets by printing; affixing the insulating sheets to opposite sides of said rigid support; treating said insulating sheets to increase the thickness of said conductive material; and processing the resulting structure to complete a printed circuit board suitable for supporting the circuit components and the soldered wires.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 22 words
A process according to claim 1, wherein said step of producing labile electrostatic images comprises producing said images on a photoconductive drum.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 16 words
A process according to claim 2, wherein said electrically conductive material comprises a colloidal conductive powder.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 58 words
A process according to claim 3, wherein said steps of producing labile electrostatic images comprises the steps of: applying a CAD output to a graphic plotter; reproducing with the graphic plotter the circuit component design and the soldering design on respective china ink masters; and optically transferring the ink designs on the china masters to a selenium drum.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 38 words
A process according to claim 1, wherein said step of producing labile electrostatic images comprises producing said images with a graphic digitized output from a computer and applying said images directly on a photoconductive drum by electro-photographic transfer.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 33 words
A process according to claim 5, wherein said electro-photographic transfer comprises using a cathode ray linear tube, an optical projector between said tube and the photoconductive drum, and a synchronizer for the drum.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 11 words
A printed circuit board produced by the process of claim 1.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 11 words
A printed circuit board produced by the process of claim 2.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 11 words
A printed circuit board produced by the process of claim 3.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 11 words
A printed circuit board produced by the process of claim 4.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 11 words
A printed circuit board produced by the process of claim 5.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 11 words
A printed circuit board produced by the process of claim 6.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3862352A Cited
US4371599A Cited
US4504529A Cited
US4327167A Cited
US4350748A Cited
US4548885A Cited
US4661431A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1993-01-29 1993-07-31 1994-01-30 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1997-01-29 1997-07-31 1998-01-30 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2001-01-29 2001-07-31 2002-01-30 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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