Interconnected Foil Contact Array for Microchip Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ultra-thin metal foils in microchip devices are prone to tearing and difficult to assemble with other components, and their surfaces are challenging to clean without damage, limiting their use due to susceptibility to oxidation and mechanical handling issues.
Innovation Solution
An array of ultra-thin metallic foil strips is electrically connected to a printed circuit board, allowing for controlled electrical current passage through the foils, which can be used as variable heating elements by selecting materials based on resistivity, thickness, width, and length, and employing mechanical connections with a housing that includes apertures and contacts to manage stress and prevent damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If ultra-thin metal foils are used in microchip devices, then the device can achieve thinness and flexibility, but the foils are prone to tearing and difficult to handle
Solution Approach 1:
The foil is segmented into an array of discrete strips, each strip being individually supported by housing structures. This segmentation allows each strip to be handled and supported independently, reducing the risk of tearing while maintaining the overall thin profile of the device.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses ultra-thin metal foils (0.002 to 0.005 inches thick) as the primary structural element, leveraging the flexibility and thinness of these films while providing mechanical support through the housing structure to prevent tearing and damage during handling.
2Adaptability or versatility
If ultra-thin metal foils are used, then the device achieves flexibility, but the foils are susceptible to oxidation and surface damage
Solution Approach 1:
The housing structure is designed to provide preliminary mechanical support and protection to the foil strips before they are exposed to the environment. The housing includes features that prevent bending and breaking during assembly, and the overall structure protects the foil from oxidation by limiting environmental exposure.
3Reliability
If mechanical contact is established with ultra-thin foils, then electrical connection is achieved, but normal forces may damage the foil
Solution Approach 1:
The housing provides localized mechanical support at specific points along the foil strips, creating discrete contact zones. This local support system allows electrical connections to be made at specific locations without applying excessive normal forces that would damage the entire foil structure, maintaining both electrical reliability and mechanical integrity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the use of ultra-thin foils as reliable, versatile heating elements within microchips, allowing for precise temperature control and multiple uses of the printed circuit board without damage, while protecting coatings until a predetermined temperature is reached.
Implementation Method 1
the current can cause the temperature of one or more foil strips to increase, due to the resistivity of the selected metal, causing the foil to act as a heating element
Data Source
AI summary
An array of ultra-thin metallic foil strips of predetermined thickness electrically connected to a printed circuit board, cables or attached to wires. An associated power source, on the printed circuit board, or attached to the circuit board, cables or wires, directs an electrical current through one or more of the strips in the array of foil strips. Depending upon the use of the circuit board, the foil strips can be used to start or to end an operation. The selection of the foil strip makes use of the electrical properties of the selected metal such as its resistivity as well as the thickness, length and width of the foil strips to provide a strip with characteristics required to achieve a preselected result. As an electric current is provided by a power source, it passes through contacts connected to the one or more foil strips. The application of current through the metallic material can be used to achieve a number of results, such as to act as a heating element.