Abstract: A circuit board fabrication method and system is disclosed in which circuit boards are fabricated by adhesively applying circuit conductive traces to a circuit board substrate and subsequently affixing the arrangement of the circuit traces on the substrate by encapsulating and embedding the circuit traces within a circuit board covering material that becomes flowable and adhesive when subjected to heat and pressure. In one embodiment, the circuit traces are created and applied to circuit board substrate areas by a punch and die assembly. A sheet of circuit trace material is provided between plates of the apparatus wherein the plates have matching circuit trace shaped cut-outs. Punch elements having a mating circuit trace shape are slidable within the cut-outs wherein a circuit trace is punched from the circuit trace material when the punch elements slide between the plates. After a circuit trace is punched, the punch elements then stamp the circuit trace to the substrate.

Abstract: A circuit board fabrication method and system is disclosedin which circuit boards are fabricated by adhesively applying circuit conductive traces to a circuit board substrate and subsequently affixing the arrangement of the circuit traces on the substrate by encapsulating and embedding the circuit traces within a circuit board covering material that becomes flowable and adhesive when subjected to heat and pressure. The circuit traces are created and applied to circuit board substrate areas by a punch and die assembly. A laminated sheet of circuit trace material is provided between plates of the apparatus wherein the plates have matching circuit trace shaped cutouts. Punch elements having a mating circuit trace shape are slidable within the cut-outs wherein a circuit trace is punched from the circuit trace material when the punch elements slide between the plates. After a circuit trace is punched, the punch elements then stamp the circuit trace to the substrate.

Abstract: Circuit boards with imbedded traces, which may form grooves or trenches are provided. The traces may be at least partially filled with a reflowable conductive material such as solder. The grooves may be selectively furnished with solder while other regions may be empty or void of solder. In assembling electronic components, with or without extended leads, such as surface mount integrated circuits or chips, to the solder core circuit boards, the leads may be placed within the regions of the grooves without solder (contact regions) and then the circuit board may be heated selectively or as a whole to reflow the solder to the bonding or contacting regions to bond the traces to the leads upon cooling. Circuit boards having surface mount devices on both sides may be formed in this manner. Further, tape automated bonded or TAB mounted devices may be directly placed into and bonded to the traces or solder core circuit boards with minimum exposure of the excised TAB leads prior to assembly.

Abstract: Circuit boards with imbedded traces, which may form grooves or trenches are provided. The traces may be at least partially filled with a reflowable conductive material such as solder. The grooves may be selectively furnished with solder while other regions may be empty or void of solder. In assembling electronic components, with or without extended leads, such as surface mount integrated circuits or chips, to the solder core circuit boards, the leads may be placed within the regions of the grooves without solder (contact regions) and then the circuit board may be heated selectively or as a whole to reflow the solder to the bonding or contacting regions to bond the traces to the leads upon cooling. Circuit boards having surface mount devices on both sides may be formed in this manner. Further, tape automated bonded or TAB mounted devices may be directly placed into and bonded to the traces or solder core circuit boards with minimum exposure of the excised TAB leads prior to assembly.

Abstract: Circuit boards that permit wave soldering of both leaded and surface mounted components to a common side. The circuit board carries plated grooves to provide interconnections between the components to be mounted to the board. For leaded components on the circuit board, holes are provided extending completely through the board, and the leaded components are mounted and soldered in a conventional fashion. For surface mounted (or leadless) components, small recesses or grooves are provided to accept the terminals of the components themselves. The grooves are plated with an electrically conductive material, and contain a hole that passes from the upper surface to the bottom surface of the circuit board. When the circuit board is wave soldered, in a conventional manner, solder from the wave soldering process engages the holes, passes through the holes to the upper surface of the circuit board, and then runs along the grooves in the upper surface of the circuit board.

Abstract: A circuit board having coaxial circuits and a method for making a circuit board of that type. A circuit board having grooves in its upper surface is made according to known techniques. Next, an inner conductor for the coaxial circuits is made. A copper backing plate, holding what will become the inner conductors, is produced. The grooves which are to receive coaxial circuits are partially filled with a fluid insulator. The copper backing plate is placed above the groove on the circuit board and lowered such that the copper tracks enter into the grooves on the circuit board and are centered within the recessed circuitry of the circuit board. The assembly is then cured by heat such that the epoxy becomes a solid and holds the copper tracks in place. The assembly is put into an etching tank which will react only with the copper so that the total copper backing plate is removed, leaving only the copper tracks embedded in the grooves.

Abstract: An improved circuit board having electrically conductive traces connected to respective terminals of a number of electrically current components mounted on a substrate. The substrate has cavities for mounting the components, and a plurality of grooves extend into one or both of a pair of opposed surfaces of the substrate. The grooves are filled by plating with an electrically conductive material to form the traces. Thus, the traces not only extend in the plane of a surface of the substrate but also extend perpendicular to such plane and into the substrate itself whereby a high packing density of traces can be achieved while maintaining essentially electrical paths between the components. The depth of each trace is a number of times greater than the width of the trace, a typical ratio being 10:1. The substrate can be molded from a plateable plastic or ceramic material and the grooves can be machined by a laser beam.