Patents Examined by Sean Smith
  • Patent number: 6148502
    Abstract: An improved surface mount resistor and method for making the same includes a body comprised of an elongated strip of electrically resistive material and a resistor terminal formed at each end of the resistive material. The resistive material is machined with a laser beam to create a current path having a desired resistance. The pattern cut is determined by partitioning the resistive material into a plurality of squares forming a current path through the resistive material with the correct resistivity. The resistive material is cut primarily with axial cuts so that the beam strength of the resistive material is maintained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2000
    Assignee: Vishay Sprague, Inc.
    Inventors: George V. Gerber, Joel J. Smejkal
  • Patent number: 6134772
    Abstract: The present invention permits solder joints to be made directly to via and through holes without the solder being wicked into the vias or through holes, by filling plated through holes with an epoxy or cyanate fill composition. When cured and overplated, the fill composition provides support for the solder joint and provides a flat solderable surface for the inter-connection. In certain embodiments, the cured fill compositions, offer a further advantage of being conductive. The invention also relates to several novel methods for filling through holes with such fill compositions, and to resistors located in through holes and vias.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Roy Lynn Arldt, Christina Marie Boyko, Burtran Joe Cayson, Richard Michael Kozlowski, Joseph Duane Kulesza, John Matthew Lauffer, Philip Chihchau Liu, Voya Rista Markovich, Issa Said Mahmoud, James Francis Muska, Kostas Papathomas, Joseph Gene Sabia, Richard Anthony Schumacher
  • Patent number: 6134776
    Abstract: A direct chip attach to heatsink structure is shown and described which implements rework when the chip must be removed and replaced. A laminated heatsink includes a metal heatsink with a foil layer adhered to the chip attachment surface with the assembly secured to a carrier at a cutout opening therein that defines the chip attach site. The adhesive, either a dry film adhesive or a pressure sensitive adhesive, secures foil layer to heatsink and provides the interface of separation when a chip must be removed and replaced. By peeling the foil away from the heatsink, the foil, chip and non-reworkable die attach adhesive are removed as a unit, leaving no chip attach adhesive residue at the attachment site to be scraped or abraded away. The replacement chip can be installed either by directly installing with new die attach adhesive or by first restoring the foil layer prior to chip installation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Mark Kenneth Hoffmeyer
  • Patent number: 6131275
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for the parallel production of circuitry and software for a customised integrated circuit, primarily an ASIC-type circuit, mounted on a printed board assembly or circuit board (300). The method comprises connecting a programmable logic circuit (345) which replaces the customised integrated circuit during the development phase. The programmable logic circuit (345) is mounted on the secondary side of the circuit board (300) and its connections are passed through (330) the circuit board (300) to the circuits (305, 310) and components (320, 325) to which the customised integrated circuit will be connected.The invention also relates to a method and to a device respectively for developing and verifying customised integrated circuits per se. In this case, a programmable logic circuit designed as a logic analyser is mounted on the secondary side of the circuit board and connected to the customised integrated circuit through the board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
    Inventors: Leif Eriksson, Otto Johnsson
  • Patent number: 6122823
    Abstract: In a method of production of a multichip package module, rough-pitch bare chips are positioned at first locations on a printed-circuit board, and the rough-pitch bare chips are temporarily attached to the board at the first locations. The rough-pitch bare chips are mounted on the board at the same time by applying heat and pressure to the rough-pitch bare chips simultaneously. A respective one of fine-pitch bare chips is positioned at a respective one of second locations on the board other than the first locations, and the respective one of the fine-pitch bare chips is mounted on the board by applying heat and pressure to the fine-pitch bare chips individually, in order to produce the multichip package module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2000
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Hidehiko Kira, Kenji Kobae, Norio Kainuma, Naoki Ishikawa, Satoshi Emoto
  • Patent number: 6115908
    Abstract: An apparatus is provided with a component feeding member for feeding electronic components having lead wires in a tape-bonded state, an insertion head for separating the electronic components fed from the feeding member from the tapes and inserting to holes of a board, and a fixing head facing the insertion head via the board for cutting and folding the lead wires of the inserted electronic component in the board thereby fixing the electronic component to the board. AC servo motors operating independently of each other are individually set in the insertion head and the fixing head, which are controlled by a device so as to be synchronous with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2000
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuzuru Inaba, Kiyoshi Imai, Hideaki Watanabe, Hiromi Kinoshita
  • Patent number: 6115909
    Abstract: A ZIF PGA socket tool (42) for releasably coupling a pin grid array (PGA) chip (22) with a "latch-less" zero insertion force (ZIF) socket (20) includes a housing (44), a sled (46), and an actuator (48). The housing (44) is configured to be placed in fixed relation to the ZIF socket (20). The sled (46) includes rails (84) that slidably couple with corresponding grooves (82) in the housing (44). The sled (46) further includes a shoulder (98) configured to abut an edge (40) of the PGA chip (22). The actuator (48) includes a pin (122) that is received by a slotted opening (118) in the sled (46). The pin (122) and the slotted opening (118) form a cooperative relationship such that rotational movement of the actuator (48) produces rectilinear movement of the sled (46) so that the shoulder (98) of the sled (46) imparts a pushing force on the edge (40) of the PGA chip (22).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2000
    Inventor: Dennis K. Miller
  • Patent number: 6108901
    Abstract: A tool for implementing a non-destructive separation of electrical components from one another. The tool has a handle part and a pair of legs extending from the handle part with a certain spacing between distal ends of the legs. The leg end spacing corresponds to a distance between a pair of holes in one electrical component, e.g., holes in mounting flanges of an electrical device whose terminals are soldered on a wire board, or holes in a wire board that is joined to another wire board via mating pin connectors soldered on the boards. The leg ends are constructed to engage the one component once the leg ends are inserted in corresponding holes in the one component, and the handle part is arranged to be manipulated to separate the first component from the second component when the leg ends engage the one component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2000
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventor: Michael G. Kossor
  • Patent number: 6098281
    Abstract: Electrical pin (10) for solderless insertion into metallized apertures of circuit boards, comprising an elastically deformable press-fit portion (14) with four contact areas (26), which are located on a first larger diameter (28) as compared with the diameter of the apertures of the circuit boards. A positioning portion (18) is provided ahead of the press-fit portion (14) and a transition portion (16) lies therebetween. The positioning portion (18) also has four contact areas (36), which are located on a second diameter (30) slightly smaller than the diameter of the apertures. Contrary to the press-fit portion (14) the positioning portion (18) is not deformed during the insertion of the electrical pin (10). Due to the positioning portion (18) the electrical pins can be connected to the circuit board in two operation steps, the first one being the positioning step and the second one being the press-in step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2000
    Assignee: Weidmuller Interface GmbH & Co.
    Inventor: Kolb Rudi
  • Patent number: 6073340
    Abstract: Several heater patterns are printed on a ceramic green sheet for substrates, and the ceramic green sheet is laminated with a ceramic green sheet for cover plates, thereby forming a lamination body. Then, the lamination body is cut so that it is divided into several intermediate bodies, each of which holds a corresponding one of the heater patterns therein and has a side surface on which a terminal portion of the heater pattern is exposed. Then, the intermediate body is baked. As a result, a ceramic heater composed of a heater substrate holding the heater pattern and a cover plate disposed on the heater substrate to cover the heater pattern can be provided without any micro-cracks therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2000
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Shirai, Akira Fujii, Masayuki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 6061903
    Abstract: Inspection apparatus is disclosed for providing a visual indication of the proper merger of the conductive pins of an electrical component in the corresponding openings in a printed circuit board. The apparatus includes an inspection plate which has a plurality of channels defined between first and second opposite faces. In the channels are mounted a plurality of inspection pins which move between a first, rest position (countersunk with respect to the top surface of the inspection plate) and a second, extended position (flush with the plate's top surface). The inspection pins in the plate correspond in number and configuration to the component conductive pins but have a greater cross sectional area than that of the conductive pins. When the component is merged with the printed circuit board, each connector pin passes through the corresponding circuit board opening and pushes against the corresponding inspection pin to cause it to move to the extended position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Stuart Lees, Noel Patrick Glancy
  • Patent number: 6047463
    Abstract: A resistor may be embedded into a substrate. A portion of the resistor may be exposed, by segmenting the substrate, for instance, so that the resistor may be trimmed to a desired resistance level. Alternatively, a portion of a resistor may be embedded into a substrate, with another portion of the resistor being disposed on the outer surface of the substrate. The portion of the resistor on the outer surface may be trimmed to adjust the resistance of the resistor to a desired level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2000
    Assignee: Intermedics Inc.
    Inventor: Kenneth R. Ulmer
  • Patent number: 6041494
    Abstract: The maintenance of nozzles is carried out efficiently and smoothly by automatically identifying a defective nozzle, hence contributing to the increase of productivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2000
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Mimura, Noriaki Yoshida, Junichi Hada
  • Patent number: 6026565
    Abstract: A printed circuit card housing provides separate cooling fluid travel paths for convectively cooling on-board heat exchangers of non mil. spec. component-retaining printed circuit cards, and for thermal conductive cooling of conventional (VME) circuit cards, while keeping both types of circuit cards sealed from contaminants that may be present in the cooling fluid. The housing includes a chassis having a card slot cavity, into which both types of printed circuit cards are retained. A cooling fluid supply/exhaust plenum provides a first cooling fluid travel path that is ported to only convectively cooled circuit cards. In order to cool the remaining circuit cards, the cooling fluid supply/exhaust plenum ports cooling fluid entering the plenum along a second cooling fluid travel path through heat exchangers installed along sidewalls of the chassis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignee: Harris Corporation
    Inventors: Carl J. Giannatto, Kevin C. Cornish
  • Patent number: 6023841
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a manufacturing procedure for printed circuit boards. It is directed to those printed circuit boards which utilize one or more power devices. There is a printed circuit board having one or more removable regions, each removably joined thereto by means of a boundary which is perforated, scored, formed with a reduced material thickness, or otherwise rendered into a breakaway region. Each removable or breakaway region has one or more fixturing holes. There is a temporary fastener and a mating fastener for each of said fixturing holes, one or more power devices, and at least one heat sink having a mounting hole for each of said fixturing holes. The position of each mounting hole on said heat sink is related to the position of a corresponding fixturing hole on a removable region of said printed circuit board. Thus, when a power device is affixed to a removable region, the mounting hole of said power device will align with the respective mounting hole of the heat sink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2000
    Inventor: James A. Concorso
  • Patent number: 6014803
    Abstract: A thermal triggering system includes bimetal strips a switching element for triggering a switching operation, and a differential lever which is fastened to the slide and which shortens its distance from the switching element as a result of the movement of said slide in the pushing direction, the mounting of the differential lever on the slide is improved in terms of adaption to the distance. For this purpose, the differential lever is fastened via a bearing point which is designed as a center of rotation and via which the distance can be set at a predetermined distance value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2000
    Assignee: Siemens AG
    Inventor: Rainer Lewin
  • Patent number: 6009616
    Abstract: A method of making a heated injection molding nozzle with an integral tip insert. First, an inner portion, an outer collar portion, and an electrical heating element are made and integrally brazed together in a vacuum furnace using a first nickel alloy brazing material. Then a tip insert is made having a desired configuration and seated in the front end of the inner portion and a second nickel alloy brazing material is applied around it. The second brazing material has a melting temperature which is substantially below that of the first brazing material. The tip insert is then integrally brazed in place by heating them to a temperature above the melting temperature of the second brazing material and below the melting temperature of the first brazing material. In addition to not affecting the metallurgical bonding between the other components, this allows the tip insert to be easily removed for replacement by again heating the nozzle to this same temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2000
    Inventor: Jobst Ulrich Gellert
  • Patent number: 6006428
    Abstract: The present invention provides an organic chip carrier particularly useful with flip chips, comprising an organic dielectric layer, a first layer of circuitry disposed on the dielectric layer, an organic conformational coating disposed over the first layer of dielectric and the first layer of circuitry, and a layer of fine line circuitry having line width of about 2.0 mil or less, preferably about 1.0 mil or less, preferably about 0.7 mil, and a space between lines of about 1.5 mil or less, preferably about 1.1 mil or less, disposed on the conformational layer. Preferably the dielectric layer is free of woven fiber glass. The conformational coating preferably has a dielectric constant of about 1.5 to about 3.5, and a percent planarization of greater than about 30%. The invention also relates to methods of making the dielectric coated chip carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Natalie Barbara Feilchenfeld, John Steven Kresge, Scott Preston Moore, Ronald Peter Nowak, James Warren Wilson
  • Patent number: 5992611
    Abstract: A concurrent component mounter (1) having storage hoppers (2) and a template (3) with component dispensing outlets (4). The mounter (1) also has communication passages (5) each providing communication between respective hoppers (2) and one of the dispensing outlets (4). Associated with each of the hoppers (2) is a component agitator (6). There is also a circuit board conveyor (22) and a circuit board fiducial detector (23) operatively coupled to a controller (24). Tracks (25,26) with associated drives (27,28) are operatively coupled to the controller (24) to effect movement of the template (3) along two axes (A,B).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 30, 1999
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventor: Steven John Cosgrove
  • Patent number: 5987738
    Abstract: An integrated circuit cartridge extracting method includes providing a generally u-shaped frame including a crossbar and first and second legs extending from the crossbar. An upper bar is located adjacent to the crossbar. First and second rods are coupled to the upper bar and extend through the crossbar. Each rod has a dowel extending out from a lower portion thereof for engaging a device to be extracted, such as an integrated circuit cartridge. A cam lever is operatively in contact with the upper bar and the cross bar. The cam lever is moved from a first position to a second position which causes the upper bar to move away from said crossbar and thereby extract a device engaged by the dowels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 23, 1999
    Assignee: Micron Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Craig L. Boe