Printed circuit board and electronic control unit

Abstract

The utility model relates to a printed circuit board and an electronic control unit. The printed circuit board comprises a substrate and a printed circuit arranged on the substrate, the printed circuit board is a compatible printed circuit board capable of presenting different structure configurations corresponding to different working modes, and is provided with a reserved cuttable area, and under a first structure configuration corresponding to a first working mode, the cuttable area can be cut off by the substrate. In a first structural configuration corresponding to a first operating mode, the reserved cuttable area is removed by cutting to provide an available space adapted to the first operating mode, and in a second structural configuration corresponding to a second operating mode, the reserved cuttable area is retained. The utility model further provides an electronic control unit comprising the printed circuit board. The printed circuit board does not need to additionally increase the production process flow of the printed circuit board, is simple in structure and easy to implement, can be flexibly and conveniently suitable for different application environments, and meets different use requirements.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a printed circuit board, and in particular to a printed circuit board with an improved structural design and an electronic control unit comprising the same. BACKGROUND

[0002] It is well known that printed circuit boards (PCB for short) have a wide range of applications in many fields such as vehicles, communication facilities, mechanical devices, electronic equipment, etc., which can provide reliable mechanical support for various electronic components and provide conductive paths (e.g., copper circuits) required for electrical connection between electronic components, and are also known as "printed wiring boards" or "etched circuit boards" in the art.

[0003] The printed circuit board generally includes a substrate (which is made of, for example, glass fiber reinforced resin, plastic, or other insulating materials, but is not limited thereto) and a printed circuit disposed on the substrate, and can be configured as a single layer or multiple layers according to actual needs.

[0004] In the known prior art, for the same type of printed circuit board, it generally has a fixed structural configuration (or structural form), and basically corresponds to the same working mode. In this case, in actual applications, in order to adapt to different working modes, use environments, etc., even for basically the same or similar application occasions, it is necessary to respectively design and produce a plurality of printed circuit boards with different structural configurations to meet different use requirements.

[0005] For example, in the field of vehicles, with the rapid development of assisted driving, artificial intelligence, etc., many vehicles are currently equipped with an electronic braking system (EBS for short) to assist and enhance the effective control of the vehicle braking (or braking) process, and to improve the safety and reliability of the vehicle during braking, etc. However, it is known to those skilled in the art that due to the strict requirements of the yaw rate sensor for the electronic braking system in terms of installation orientation, etc., there are currently different structural designs (in other words, there are printed circuit boards with different structural configurations) for the printed circuit boards used in the electronic control unit (ECU for short) of the vehicle related thereto, and correspond to different working modes and installation methods.

[0006] It can be seen that in the current known vehicle field and the like, due to the limitations in design concept and the like, even for basically same or similar application occasions, in order to meet different application requirements, it is necessary to respectively design and produce a plurality of printed circuit boards with different structural configurations to adapt to different working modes or mounting modes and the like, which greatly increases the production and storage costs and the like, and brings many inconveniences in user experience, use process and the like.

[0007] Therefore, it is necessary to improve the above-mentioned known prior art to reduce or even eliminate the problems or defects as mentioned above. Invention content

[0008] In view of the above background, the purpose of the present application is to propose a printed circuit board which can at least partially overcome or even completely eliminate the deficiencies or defects in the above-mentioned prior art.

[0009] Another purpose of the present application is to propose an electronic control unit related to (in other words, corresponding to) the printed circuit board.

[0010] To this end, according to one aspect of the present application, a printed circuit board is proposed, comprising:

[0011] a substrate; and

[0012] a printed circuit disposed on the substrate,

[0013] wherein the printed circuit board is a compatible printed circuit board capable of assuming different structural configurations corresponding to different working modes, and has a reserved cuttable area, wherein in a first structural configuration corresponding to a first working mode, the reserved cuttable area is removed by cutting to provide available space adapted to the first working mode, and in a second structural configuration corresponding to a second working mode, the reserved cuttable area is retained.

[0014] According to a possible implementation mode, the printed circuit board further comprises a cutting path around the reserved cuttable area, and in the first structural configuration, the reserved cuttable area is removed by cutting the printed circuit board along the cutting path.

[0015] According to a possible implementation mode, the cutting path is in the form of a trace exposed without being coated with a solder resist.

[0016] According to an implementation form, the printed circuit board is a main board mounted in an electronic control unit of a vehicle, the electronic control unit having a housing, and the printed circuit board is provided with a flexible printed circuit interface outside the reserved cuttable area and a board-to-board connector in the reserved cuttable area, wherein in the first configuration the reserved cuttable area together with the board-to-board connector is removed by cutting, whereby a first operating mode is enabled to connect a micro electro mechanical system board located in the electronic control unit and fixed to the housing via a flexible printed circuit to the flexible printed circuit interface and to provide a mounting space adapted to the micro electro mechanical system board, and in the second configuration the reserved cuttable area together with the board-to-board connector is retained, whereby a second operating mode is enabled to connect a micro electro mechanical system board located in the electronic control unit and soldered on the printed circuit board via the board-to-board connector to the printed circuit board.

[0017] According to an implementation form, the vehicle is a heavy truck, the electronic control unit is mounted on the vehicle parallel to a driving direction of the vehicle, the printed circuit board is fixed to the housing, and a yaw rate sensor for an electronic brake system of the vehicle is arranged vertically on the micro electro mechanical system board.

[0018] According to an implementation form, the reserved cuttable area is located at an edge portion of the printed circuit board, and the area in which the flexible printed circuit interface is located and the reserved cuttable area are separated by a cutting path located therebetween.

[0019] According to an implementation form, the flexible printed circuit interface and the board-to-board connector each have a rectangular shape and are adjacently arranged parallel to each other and aligned along a center line, as seen in a plan view of the printed circuit board.

[0020] According to an implementation form, the printed circuit board consists of a plurality of layers stacked on each other and comprises an outer layer and inner layers located between the outer layers, and the wiring for connecting the board-to-board connector is arranged in the inner layers and perpendicular to the cutting path.

[0021] According to an implementation form, a predetermined distance is maintained between the plurality of wirings located in the same inner layer and between the wirings located in different inner layers to prevent short circuiting during cutting for removing the reserved cuttable area.

[0022] According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided an electronic control unit comprising:

[0023] a housing; and

[0024] a printed circuit board located in the housing,

[0025] wherein the printed circuit board is configured as the printed circuit board as previously described.

[0026] From the above description, it can be seen that the present application proposes a novel printed circuit board and an electronic control unit comprising the printed circuit board. The present application combines different structural configurations of the printed circuit board in the prior art together, and provides a reserved cuttable area in the printed circuit board, thereby providing a compatible printed circuit board, wherein the reserved cuttable area can be selectively retained or removed according to actual needs in the later use process to provide different structural configurations corresponding to different working modes, so as to effectively overcome the defects in the prior art in a simple and convenient manner, while avoiding secondary development in the later stage, reducing the design version of the printed circuit board, and reducing the production and storage costs. In addition, the present application does not need to additionally increase the production process flow of the printed circuit board, and has simple structure, easy implementation, and can be flexibly and conveniently applied to different application environments and meet different use requirements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] The features, advantages, and characteristics of the present application will be more clearly understood from the following more detailed description of the application, given by way of example and in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0028] Figure 1 schematic view of a reference coordinate system for a yaw rate sensor of an electronic brake system for a vehicle;

[0029] Figure 2 schematic cross-sectional view to show the internal structure of a typical configuration of an electronic control unit for a vehicle as currently known;

[0030] Figure 3 schematic cross-sectional view to show the internal structure of a typical configuration of an electronic control unit for a vehicle as currently known; Figure 2

[0031] Figure 4 schematic cross-sectional view to show the internal structure of a typical configuration of an electronic control unit for a vehicle as currently known;

[0032] Figure 5 schematic cross-sectional view to show the internal structure of a typical configuration of an electronic control unit for a vehicle as currently known; Figure 4

[0033] Figure 6 schematic cross-sectional view to show the internal structure of a typical configuration of an electronic control unit for a vehicle as currently known;

[0034] Figure 7 schematic cross-sectional view to show the internal structure of a typical configuration of an electronic control unit for a vehicle as currently known; Figure 6 ​​A schematic view of a multilayer structure of a portion of a printed circuit board. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the embodiments and their related descriptions given herein are intended to be illustrative and not limiting of the present application.

[0036] In addition, it should be noted that the same reference numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar components having substantially the same functions, in order to avoid repetitive description. It should be understood that the sizes, positions, and the like of the components in the drawings are not drawn to scale, and the sizes, quantities, and proportional relationships of the components should not be considered as limiting the present application. In addition, it should be understood that the terms "first", "second", and the like are used only to distinguish one element or means from another element or means, and do not imply any limitation on the present application.

[0037] In addition, it should be noted that, for the sake of brevity and to more clearly understand the main improvements or points of the present application, the description and drawings of the present application focus on the content related to the improved part of the present application, and the structure and related description of other parts are omitted or simplified. The structural design, working principle, material selection, and the like of these omitted parts are known in the art, and those skilled in the art can make appropriate selections based on the existing knowledge in the art and specific applications, and thus will not be described or illustrated in detail here. In other words, the structures and the like that are well known in the art are not described or illustrated in detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the core or essence of the present application.

[0038] Furthermore, for the sake of convenience, in the following description of the present application, the printed circuit board in an electronic control unit (ECU) used in a vehicle such as a heavy truck will be taken as an example to describe the technical solutions, design points or main improvements, specific embodiments, and advantages of the present application in detail, but the present application is obviously not limited thereto.

[0039] First, as previously described, it is known in the art that yaw rate sensors for electronic braking systems of vehicles have strict requirements in terms of installation orientation and the like.

[0040] More specifically, for example, yaw rate sensors (e.g., yaw rate sensor chip SMI850) that are commonly used in the control of known electronic braking systems of vehicles need to be arranged perpendicular to the driving direction of the vehicle, as they need to detect the acceleration along the X-axis, Y-axis, and the angular velocity a around the Z-axis (vertical axis) perpendicular to the X-axis and Y-axis. Figure 1 as shown in the X-axis, Y-axis, and the angular velocity a around the Z-axis (vertical axis) perpendicular to the X-axis and Y-axis.

[0041] Accordingly, for example, based on the fact that the current electronic control unit (ECU) is usually installed in heavy trucks parallel to the running direction of the vehicle, in this case the yaw rate sensor will usually be arranged on a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) board and needs to be vertically arranged inside the electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle and connected to the printed circuit board (also referred to as the main board) in the electronic control unit to achieve the predetermined function.

[0042] To meet the above requirements, for the electronic control unit and the printed circuit board located therein, etc., in combination Figure 2 、 Figure 3 and Figure 4 、 Figure 5 It can be seen that there are mainly two design methods (or configurations) as follows:

[0043] Design method 1: as shown in Figure 2 , the Micro-Electro-Mechanical System board 12 is locked on the housing 11 of the electronic control unit 10 (for example, by using studs, but not limited to this) and connected to the printed circuit board 1 through a flexible printed circuit (FPC) 13. In addition, as can be seen from Figure 2 、 Figure 3 , this design method requires the printed circuit board 1 to be cut to provide the mounting space of the Micro-Electro-Mechanical System board 12 (for example, the cutout 16 shown in Figure 2 、 Figure 3 ), and the flexible printed circuit interface 14 needs to be left;

[0044] Design method 2: as shown in Figure 4 , the Micro-Electro-Mechanical System board 12 is welded on the printed circuit board 1. In addition, as can be seen from Figure 4 、 Figure 5 , in this design method, the printed circuit board 1 does not need to be cut, but a board-to-board connector 21 needs to be additionally provided.

[0045] As can be seen from the above description, in the prior art, due to the differences in design concept, specific structure, etc., for the printed circuit board in the above-mentioned electronic control unit, two kinds of printed circuit boards (or two kinds of main boards) with different configurations usually need to be designed and produced respectively to meet different user requirements or installation methods, which is obviously not conducive to cost saving and increases the complexity of production and use, etc.

[0046] Based on the above background, as Figure 6To overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks in the prior art, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present application, a printed circuit board 1 with an improved structural design is proposed, which comprises:

[0047] a substrate; and

[0048] a printed circuit disposed on the substrate,

[0049] wherein the printed circuit board 1 is a compatible printed circuit board capable of presenting different structural configurations corresponding to different working modes, and has a reserved cuttable area 2, wherein in a first structural configuration corresponding to a first working mode, the reserved cuttable area 2 is removed by cutting to provide available space adapted to the first working mode, while in a second structural configuration corresponding to a second working mode, the reserved cuttable area 2 is reserved.

[0050] It can be seen from Figure 6 that, according to the advantageous embodiments of the present application, the printed circuit board 1 can further comprise a cutting (or dicing) path 3 around the reserved cuttable area 2 (which is shown in dashed lines in Figure 6 and in the first structural configuration, the reserved cuttable area 2 can be removed by cutting the printed circuit board 1 along the cutting path 3.

[0051] It is known to those skilled in the art that, in the manufacturing process of a printed circuit board, a solder resist (for example, a liquid photoresist, also known as green oil, but not limited thereto) is often used, which is usually coated at the parts of the printed circuit board where soldering is not required, and plays a role in preventing short circuits and protecting the printed circuit in the printed circuit board, etc.

[0052] In this case, according to the advantageous embodiments of the present application, the cutting path 3 is presented in the form of a trace line exposed by not being coated with the solder resist. In other words, in the present application, the solder resist can not cover the cutting path 3 to prevent excessive impurities when cutting the printed circuit board (i.e., the board material) 1, and can form a visible trace line for easy production identification.

[0053] In combination with Figures 2 to 6As can be seen from the advantageous embodiments of this application, the printed circuit board 1 can be a motherboard installed in the electronic control unit 10 of a vehicle. The electronic control unit 10 can have a housing 11, and the printed circuit board 1 can be provided with a flexible printed circuit interface 14 and a board-to-board connector 21. The flexible printed circuit interface 14 can be located outside the reserved cutable area 2, and the board-to-board connector 21 can be located in the reserved cutable area 2. In the first structural configuration, the reserved cutable area 2 together with the board-to-board connector 21 can be removed by cutting, thereby enabling the first operating mode to be adopted to fix the board located in the electronic control unit 10 and fixed to the motherboard via the flexible printed circuit 13. The microelectromechanical system board 12 on the housing 11 is connected to the flexible printed circuit interface 14 (in particular, the relevant circuit components on the microelectromechanical system board 12 are electrically connected to the flexible printed circuit interface 14), and provides mounting space adapted to the microelectromechanical system board 12. In the second structural configuration, the reserved cutable area 2 along with the board-to-board connector 21 can be retained, thereby enabling a second operating mode to connect the microelectromechanical system board 12, which is located in the electronic control unit 10 and soldered on the printed circuit board 1, to the printed circuit board 1 via the board-to-board connector 21 (in particular, to electrically connect the relevant circuit components on the microelectromechanical system board 12 to the printed circuit on the printed circuit board 1).

[0054] According to an advantageous embodiment of this application, the vehicle may be a heavy truck (but is not limited thereto), the electronic control unit 10 may be mounted on the vehicle parallel to the vehicle's direction of travel, the printed circuit board 1 may be fixed to the housing 11 by means of studs 15 (but is not limited thereto), and the yaw rate sensor (not shown) for the vehicle's electronic braking system may be mounted vertically on the microelectromechanical system board 12.

[0055] like Figure 6 As shown, according to an advantageous embodiment of this application, the reserved cutable area 2 can be located at the edge portion of the printed circuit board 1, and the area where the flexible printed circuit interface 14 is located and the reserved cutable area 2 can be separated by a cutting path 3 located between them.

[0056] In addition, such as Figure 6 As shown, according to an advantageous embodiment of this application, when viewed in a plan view of the printed circuit board 1, both the flexible printed circuit interface 14 and the board-to-board connector 21 can have a rectangular shape, and the two can be arranged adjacent to each other in a manner that is parallel to each other and aligned along the center line, but are not limited thereto.

[0057] like Figure 7 As shown, according to an advantageous embodiment of this application, the printed circuit board 1 (especially, Figure 6The reserved cutable area 2 shown may consist of multiple layers stacked on top of each other and includes an outer layer A (which may, for example, consist of an upper surface layer and a lower surface layer) and an inner layer B located between the outer layers A (for example, it may include one or more inner layers, wherein...). Figure 7 The diagram shows a six-layer printed circuit board design including four inner layers (but is clearly not limited to this), for wiring to connect board-to-board connector 21 (e.g., Figure 7 The different circuit wirings a, b, and c shown for board-to-board connections (which may also be referred to as "wiring") are preferably arranged in the inner layer and perpendicular to the cut path 3.

[0058] In addition, such as Figure 7 As shown, according to an advantageous embodiment of this application, a predetermined distance is preferably maintained between multiple wires located in the same inner layer and between wires located in different inner layers (e.g., Figure 7 The first spacing x1 and the second spacing x2 are preferably both greater than a predetermined value, and the two can be the same or different. The predetermined value can be determined based on experiments or experience and can be adjusted appropriately according to the actual situation to prevent short circuits from occurring during the cutting process of removing the reserved cutable area 2.

[0059] In other words, according to the advantageous embodiment of this application, all wiring of the board-to-board connector 21 passes through the cutting path 3, and therefore needs to be arranged in the inner layer and perpendicular to the cutting path 3 to reduce the generation of copper shavings, etc. during the cutting process. Furthermore, wiring with different electrical properties needs to maintain a certain distance between the same layer and between different layers to ensure that short circuits are not caused during the cutting process.

[0060] According to another aspect of this application, an electronic control unit 10 is also proposed, which includes:

[0061] Casing 11; and

[0062] The printed circuit board 1 located in the housing 11

[0063] The printed circuit board 1 is configured as described above according to the design of this application.

[0064] As can be seen from the above description, the present application combines different structural configurations (or structural designs) of the prior art printed circuit board together and intentionally provides a reserved cuttable area in the printed circuit board, thereby providing a compatible printed circuit board which can be compatible with different working modes (in which the reserved cuttable area can be selectively retained or removed according to actual needs during later use to provide different structural configurations corresponding to different working modes), thereby effectively overcoming the defects in the prior art in a simple manner while avoiding later secondary development, reducing the design and manufacturing costs of the printed circuit board, and flexibly adapting to different use requirements. In addition, compared with the prior art, the present application does not need to additionally increase the production process flow of the printed circuit board (which can be easily implemented by ingeniously combining the prior known different structural designs without significantly changing the basic structure and manufacturing process of the printed circuit board in the prior art), and can be flexibly applied to different application environments or use requirements (for example, can be applied to the installation of different types of sensor components, etc.), and has the advantages of simple structure, convenient use, etc.

[0065] In addition, as mentioned above, the present application can be conveniently applied to vehicles such as heavy trucks, but is obviously not limited thereto.

[0066] The present application has been described in detail in conjunction with specific embodiments. It is obvious that the above description and the embodiments shown in the drawings should be understood as exemplary and do not constitute a limitation on the present application. Various modifications or changes can be made to the present application without departing from the spirit of the present application, and these modifications or changes obviously do not depart from the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A printed circuit board (1), comprising: substrate; as well as Printed circuitry disposed on the substrate The feature is that the printed circuit board (1) is a compatible printed circuit board capable of presenting different structural configurations corresponding to different working modes, and has a reserved cutable area (2), wherein in the first structural configuration corresponding to the first working mode, the reserved cutable area (2) is removed by cutting to provide available space adapted to the first working mode, while in the second structural configuration corresponding to the second working mode, the reserved cutable area (2) is retained.

2. The printed circuit board (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that, The printed circuit board (1) also includes a cutting path (3) around the reserved cutable area (2), and in the first structural configuration, the reserved cutable area (2) is removed by cutting the printed circuit board (1) along the cutting path (3).

3. The printed circuit board (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that, The cutting path (3) is presented as a trace that is exposed without being coated with solder resist.

4. The printed circuit board (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The printed circuit board (1) is a motherboard installed in the electronic control unit (10) of the vehicle. The electronic control unit (10) has a housing (11), and the printed circuit board (1) is provided with a flexible printed circuit interface (14) and a board-to-board connector (21). The flexible printed circuit interface (14) is located outside the reserved cutable area (2), and the board-to-board connector (21) is located in the reserved cutable area (2). In the first structural configuration, the reserved cutable area (2) together with the board-to-board connector (21) is removed by cutting, thereby enabling the first operating mode to be adopted via flexible The flexible printed circuit (13) connects the microelectromechanical system board (12) located in the electronic control unit (10) and fixed on the housing (11) to the flexible printed circuit interface (14) and provides mounting space adapted to the microelectromechanical system board (12). In the second structural configuration, the reserved cutable area (2) together with the board-to-board connector (21) is retained, thereby enabling a second operating mode to connect the microelectromechanical system board (12) located in the electronic control unit (10) and soldered on the printed circuit board (1) to the printed circuit board (1) via the board-to-board connector (21).

5. The printed circuit board (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that, The vehicle is a heavy truck. The electronic control unit (10) is mounted on the vehicle parallel to the vehicle's driving direction. The printed circuit board (1) is fixed on the housing (11). The yaw rate sensor for the vehicle's electronic braking system is vertically mounted on the microelectromechanical system board (12).

6. The printed circuit board (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that, The reserved cutable area (2) is located at the edge of the printed circuit board (1), and the area where the flexible printed circuit interface (14) is located and the reserved cutable area (2) are separated by a cutting path (3) located between them.

7. The printed circuit board (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that, Viewed in the plan view of the printed circuit board (1), the flexible printed circuit interface (14) and the board-to-board connector (21) are both rectangular in shape and are arranged adjacent to each other in a manner that is parallel to each other and aligned along the center line.

8. The printed circuit board (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The printed circuit board (1) consists of multiple layers stacked on top of each other and includes an outer layer and an inner layer located between the outer layers. The wiring for connecting the board-to-board connector (21) is arranged in the inner layer and perpendicular to the cutting path (3).

9. The printed circuit board (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that, A predetermined distance is maintained between multiple wirings located in the same inner layer and between wirings located in different inner layers to prevent short circuits during the cutting process of removing the reserved cutable area (2).

10. An electronic control unit (10), comprising: Shell (11); as well as The printed circuit board (1) located in the housing (11), The printed circuit board (1) is characterized in that it is configured as a printed circuit board (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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