Patents Examined by Derris H. Banks
  • Patent number: 7992291
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a circuit board, which includes a bump pad on which a solder bump may be placed, may include forming a solder pad on a surface of a first carrier; forming a metal film, which covers the solder pad and which extends to a bump pad forming region; forming a circuit layer and a circuit pattern, which are electrically connected with the metal film, on a surface of the first carrier; pressing the first carrier and an insulator such that a surface of the first carrier and the insulator faces each other; and removing the first carrier. Utilizing this method, the amount of solder for the contacting of a flip chip can be adjusted, and solder can be filled inside the board, so that after installing a chip, the overall thickness of the package can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hoe-Ku Jung, Je-Gwang Yoo, Myung-Sam Kang, Ji-Eun Kim, Jeong-Woo Park, Jung-Hyun Park
  • Patent number: 7992290
    Abstract: An exemplary method of making an FPC includes forming a substrate comprising metal foil layers interleaved with intervening layers by: (a) laminating intervening layers with metal foil layers; (b) adhering a covering film to outermost surfaces of the substrate; (c) defining a hole in one side of the substrate through the covering film and at least two metal foil layers and the intervening layer between the at least two metal foil layers by etching or laser technology; and (d) plating a portion of an inner wall of the hole with conductive material to form a via to electrically connect the at least two metal foil layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ying-Lin Chen, Yung-Chou Chen
  • Patent number: 7987580
    Abstract: A method of fabricating conducting crossover structures for power inductors comprises providing a first lead frame array including first lead frames, providing a second lead frame array including said second lead frames, stamping one side of a second lead frame array to define first and second terminals of said second lead frames, at least one of coating, spraying, applying and/or attaching an insulating material to said first lead frame array to form a first laminate, stamping said first laminate in a direction from said insulating material towards said first lead frame array to define first and second terminals of said first lead frames; and arranging said insulating material of said first laminate adjacent to and in contact with said one side of said second lead frame array to form a second laminate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Marvell World Trade Ltd.
    Inventor: Sehat Sutardja
  • Patent number: 7987586
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a printed circuit board (PCB) having different thicknesses in different areas includes: providing a first substrate having two lateral unwanted portions bounded two imaginary boundary lines, a binder layer having a through opening and a second substrate having a mounting area for mounting electronic elements; forming two slots bounded the imaginary boundary lines in an intermediated unwanted portion of the first substrate corresponding to the mounting area; laminating the first and second substrates, and the binder layer with the mounting area exposed via the through opening; filling the two slots and the through opening with a filling material, thereby obtaining a semifinished PCB board; cutting the semifinished PCB board along the imaginary boundary lines to remove the two lateral unwanted portions and a portion of the second substrate corresponding to the two lateral unwanted portions; and removing the intermediate unwanted portion and the filling material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignees: FuKui Precision Component (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd., Foxconn Advanced Technology Inc.
    Inventors: Dong-Qing He, Ming Wang, Yun-Li Zhu, Wen-Chin Lee
  • Patent number: 7987584
    Abstract: A tool assembly for removing an article from, or inserting an article onto, a printed circuit board which includes a tool housing having a handle portion and an article receiving portion, a plate slidable within the housing, the plate having a handle portion at a first end adjacent to the handle portion of the housing and two receiving portions at a second end, and two lever arms within the housing, each lever arm having a first end pinned to the housing and a second end of each lever arm inserted into the receiving portion of the plate such that each of the lever arms pivots about the pinned first end upon movement of the plate. The tool further comprises a pair of flexible rods located in respective recessed channels on either side of the article receiving portion, with one end of the flexible rods affixed to a first end of each of the lever arms, each of the flexible rods having a free end for interacting with an article retention device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Kyle Steven Barna, William Louis Brodsky, John G. Torok
  • Patent number: 7987575
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a device for applying films (10) to interior wall sections of the bodywork (7) of a vehicle with the aid of an instrument or robot (6) comprising a multi-membered articulated arm (18, 19) and gripping elements (21) for the films. To reduce the mounting time, the robot (6) is driven through an opening (14) in the interior of the bodywork (7), the films (10) to be applied are transported by transport elements (11) to the vicinity of the interior or into the interior of the bodywork (7) and the delivered films (10) are taken from the transport elements by the robot (6) and its gripping elements (21) and are applied to the respective interior wall sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: AKsys GmbH
    Inventors: Ernst Hotz, Josef Polak
  • Patent number: 7987588
    Abstract: The invention discloses an interposer used for connecting a plurality of chips. The interposer includes a connective substrate and at least a through via disposed in the connective substrate. The connective substrate has a first surface and a second surface. The through via acts as a connector, and is electrically connected to the first surface and the second surface. The first surface and the second surface are electrically connected to at least a first chip and a second chip respectively. In addition, the first chip and the second chip are electrically connected by the through via.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Touch Micro-System Technology Inc.
    Inventors: Kuan-Jui Huang, Chang-Ping Wang, Hsiu-Ming Li, Shih-Min Huang, Hui-Chen Kuo, Chia-Chun Chen
  • Patent number: 7987592
    Abstract: An electrical connector for use with providing an electrical termination to an end of a cable having a conductor helically disposed between a core and a layer overlying the core. The connector includes a first portion having an opening sized greater than a diameter defined by the helically disposed conductor but less than a diameter of the layer. A second portion has an opening sized greater than a diameter defined by the helically disposed conductor. A third portion is configured to receive a conductor of a second cable. As a result of the end of the cable being sufficiently inserted through the opening of the first portion, the helically disposed conductor is exposed about a length of the cable extending through another side of the first portion and received in the opening of the second portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Tyco Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Robert Scott Good, Daniel E. Stahl, David F. Fleming
  • Patent number: 7979982
    Abstract: A vehicle-mounted camera (1) comprises a lower case (2) constituting a part of a case, an upper case (3) provided with lenses (3a, 3b) constituting the case integrally with the lower case (2), an imaging element (4) for converting light passing through the lenses (3a, 3b) into an electrical signal, an MID-mounting substrate (6) with the imaging element (4) mounted, substrate mounting bosses (3c, 3d) for mounting the MID-mounting substrate (6) to the upper case (3), and spacers (7a, 7b) interposed between the MID-mounting substrate (6) and the substrate mounting bosses (3c, 3d) for adjusting the clearance between the lenses (3a, 3b) and the light receiving plane of the imaging element (4), structured to fix the lower case (2) to the upper case (3) while the MID-mounting substrate (6) mounted with the imaging element (4) is being fixed to the upper case (3) by the substrate mounting bosses (3c, 3d).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Tatsuhiko Inagaki, Makoto Imai, Hldetoshi Mimura
  • Patent number: 7979983
    Abstract: Techniques for optimizing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and other IC pin assignment corresponding to a high density interconnect (HDI) printed circuit board (PCB) layout are provided. Applying the techniques described herein, pin assignments may be systematically and strategically planned, for example, in an effort to reduce the PCB layer count and associated cost, increase signal integrity and speed, reduce the surface area used by an ASIC and its support circuitry, reduce plane perforations, and reduce via crosstalk when compared to conventional designs with an ASIC mounted on a multilayered PCB.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven C. Bird, Linda M. Mazaheri, Bob Needham, Phuong Rosalynn Duong
  • Patent number: 7975363
    Abstract: A probe includes a substrate and a tetragonal structure disposed on the substrate that has four end points. Three of the end points are disposed adjacent to the substrate. A fourth of the end points extends outwardly and substantially normal to the substrate. In a method of making a probe tip, a plurality of tetrapods are grown and at least one of the tetrapods is placed on a substrate at a selected location. The tetrapod is affixed to the substrate at the selected location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Georgia Tech Research Corporation
    Inventors: Zhong L. Wang, William L. Hughes, Brent A. Buchine
  • Patent number: 7975358
    Abstract: A mounting assembly for attaching the drive system and stand to a ring in a medicine gantry is disclosed. The mounting assembly includes at least one mounting bar (e.g., two mounting bars), at least one mounting plate and at least one adjuster (e.g., a screw). The mounting bar is securable to a portion of the ring. The mounting bar includes a base and at least one transverse face. At least a portion of the base is substantially parallel to a surface of a portion of the ring and at least a portion of the transverse face is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the portion of the ring. The mounting plate is secured to the drive system and is securable to the transverse face of the mounting bar. Movement of the adjuster moves the drive assembly relative to the mounting bar when the mounting plate is adjacent the transverse face of the mounting bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Robert Campbell, Jeff Scribner
  • Patent number: 7975376
    Abstract: The invention aims to provide substrate treatment equipment that can automatically collect a substrate in a normal condition without needing manual operation. The equipment includes a substrate holder 26 for holding substrates 12 in a multistage manner and a substrate transfer unit 34 for transferring the substrates 12 into the substrate holder 26, wherein a substrate holding condition of the substrate holder 26 is sensed by a sensing section 60. The sensing section 60 has photo-sensors 64a, 64b, and sensing waveforms sensed by the photo-sensors 64a, 64b are compared with a normal waveform. A control section 66 is provided, which controls a substrate transfer unit 34 such that substrates 12 other than at least a substrate 12 that was determined to be abnormal are transferred by the unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
    Inventors: Makoto Hirano, Akihiro Yoshida
  • Patent number: 7971347
    Abstract: Embodiments of an apparatus and methods of forming a package on package interconnect and its application to the packaging of microelectronic devices are described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Leonel Arana, Rob Nickerson, Lim Chong Sim, Edward Prack, Yoshihiro Tomita
  • Patent number: 7966720
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an element substrate including: forming a release layer on a first support substrate; forming a metal layer having a predetermined pattern on the release layer; applying a sol-gel solution including a material for an inorganic substrate to the first support substrate; removing a solvent from the sol-gel solution by heat treatment to form the inorganic substrate; and removing the metal layer from the first support substrate by decomposing the release layer to transfer the metal layer to the inorganic substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Toshihiko Kaneda, Satoshi Kimura, Hidemichi Furihata, Takeshi Kijima
  • Patent number: 7966728
    Abstract: The described embodiments relate to methods and systems of forming slots in a substrate. One exemplary embodiment forms a feature into a substrate having a first substrate surface and a second substrate surface, and moves a sand drill nozzle along the substrate to remove substrate material sufficient to form, in combination with said forming, a slot through the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Shen Buswell
  • Patent number: 7966722
    Abstract: Planarization methods for maintaining planar surfaces in the fabrication of such devices as BAW devices and capacitors on a planar or planarized substrate are described. In accordance with the method, a metal layer is deposited and patterned, and an oxide layer is deposited using a high density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDP CVD) process to a thickness equal to the thickness of the metal layer. The HDP CVD process provides an oxide layer on the patterned metal tapering upward from the edge of the patterned metal layer. Then, after masking and etching the oxide layer from the patterned metal layer, the patterned metal layer and surrounding oxide layer form a substantially planar layer, interrupted by small remaining oxide protrusions at the edges of the patterned layer. These small remaining oxide protrusions may be too small to significantly disturb the flatness of a further oxide or other layer or they may be further mitigated by the application of another HDP CVD oxide film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: David Hart, David McDonald, Guillaume Bouche, Sudarsan Uppili
  • Patent number: 7963021
    Abstract: An inductor embedded in a substrate, including a substrate, a coil electrode formed by filling a metal in a spiral hole formed on the substrate, an insulation layer formed on the substrate, and an external connection pad formed on the insulation layer to be connected to the coil electrode. The inductor-embedded substrate can be used as a cap for a micro device package by forming a cavity on its bottom surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Moon-chul Lee, Jong-oh Kwon, Woon-bae Kim, Jea-shik Shin, Jun-sik Hwang, Eun-sung Lee
  • Patent number: 7963017
    Abstract: The method is used for automated tightening of a screwed joint (16), which is fitted to a component (10) in advance and contains a screw (12) and a nut (14), using a programmable industrial robot system (18). In this case, the invention provides that the industrial robot system (18) has a first robot (20) with a screw driving head (22) and a second robot (24) with a mating holding head (26). In order to tighten the screwed joint (16) on the component (10), the screw driving head (22) is positioned in a defined screw driving position, and the mating holding head (26) is positioned in a defined mating holding position in order to produce an interlocking connection, which is suitable for tightening of the screwed joint (16), between the mating holding head (26) and the nut (14), as well as between the screw driving head (22) and the screw (12). The screwed joint (16) on the component (10) is tightened with a predeterminable fixing torque. The interlocking connections are then disconnected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2011
    Assignee: Daimler AG
    Inventors: Jürgen Ehleiter, Willi Klumpp, Uwe Pfister, Thomas Prager, Michael Schunko
  • Patent number: 7958630
    Abstract: A device connector producing method includes a primary molding step of forming a primary molded body (20) formed with pilot holes (24), a terminal press-fitting step of press-fitting intermediate terminals (11) into the pilot holes (24) to form an intermediate product (40), and an insert molding step of setting the intermediate product (40) in a secondary molding die (50) and forming a device connector. The primary molded body (20) includes a resin inflow opening (21) that enables resin from a gate (52) to flow through the primary molded body (20) during secondary molding, and a supporting projection (23) to contact an inner surface of the secondary molding die (50). Thus, resin flow during secondary molding is good and the intermediate product (40) will not displace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2011
    Assignee: Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Matsuoka