Flexible PCB Electrical Connection for Video Endoscope
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for creating electrical connections in video endoscopes with hermetically sealed video units are laborious, prone to errors, and costly due to the twisting of electrical lines during image rotation, which complicates the soldering process and increases the risk of mix-ups.
Innovation Solution
An electrical connection piece featuring a partially flexible printed circuit board with conductive tracks, flexible arms, and stiffened end surfaces that can be easily soldered to hermetic feedthroughs, allowing for low-force twisting and minimizing signal crosstalk through a stabilizing body and continuous ground plane.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If individual wires are soldered to individual contact pins of the hermetic feedthrough, then electrical connection is achieved, but the process becomes laborious, prone to mix-ups, and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual wire connections into a single cable assembly with a connector, and similarly combines multiple contact pins into a hermetic feedthrough assembly. The cable connector is soldered as a single unit to the hermetic feedthrough, eliminating the need for individual wire-to-pin soldering operations. This merging approach maintains reliable electrical connections while dramatically simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the risk of mix-ups.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a cable connector as an intermediary component between the cable and the hermetic feedthrough. Instead of directly soldering individual wires to individual pins, the connector serves as a mediator that consolidates multiple connections into a single soldering operation. This intermediary element simplifies the manufacturing process while maintaining connection reliability.
2Reliability
If the cable is spliced out and individual wires are soldered to the hermetic connector, then electrical connection is established, but the cable becomes consistently twisted with little force during rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual wire connections into a single cable assembly with a integrated connector. This unified structure distributes mechanical stresses more evenly during rotation, preventing the consistent twisting that occurs with spliced-out cables. The connector maintains stable electrical connections while accommodating rotational movements without concentrating stress at individual solder joints.
3Ease of manufacture
If the base surface is stiffened and less flexible, then the printed circuit board can be easily slid onto contact pins and fixed, but the arms need to remain flexible for connection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the mechanical properties of different regions of the printed circuit board. The base surface is stiffened to provide stability during assembly and soldering operations, while the arms remain flexible to accommodate connection requirements. This localized differentiation of material properties allows each region to fulfill its specific functional requirements without compromising overall performance.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an electrical connection piece for a video endoscope having a hermetically closed video unit in a shaft of the endoscope, a video endoscope, and a method for producing an electrical connection in a video endoscope. The electrical connection piece according to the invention includes an at least partially flexible printed circuit board having conductive tracks, wherein the printed circuit board has a base surface with openings for contact pins of a hermetic feedthrough, and a flexible first arm and a flexible second arm that branch off in different, in particular opposite, directions from the base surface, wherein the first arm and the second arm each have a flat end surface at the respective ends facing away from the base surface, wherein the conductive tracks extend between the openings on the base surface and electrical contacting surfaces in the end surfaces.