3D Printed Lead Frame and Wire Integration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for manufacturing electronic components, such as integrated circuits, face challenges in reducing packaging costs and assembly steps while maintaining robustness and flexibility, particularly in creating reliable electrical connections without the need for manual soldering or multiple assembly steps.
Innovation Solution
The use of 3D printing (additive manufacturing) to produce electronic components, specifically lead frames and wires, as a single piece with variable cross-sections, eliminating the need for joints and enabling robust, flexible, and reliable electrical connections by integrating the wires with the lead frame without solder joints, using materials like copper, aluminum, and metal alloys.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional packaging methods with separate lead frames and wires are used, then assembly steps and packaging costs are high, but connection reliability and structural robustness are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the lead frame and wires into a single integrated component manufactured through 3D printing. This merging eliminates the need for separate assembly steps and solder joints between discrete lead frames and wires, thereby reducing packaging costs and assembly complexity while simultaneously improving connection reliability by creating continuous, joint-free electrical pathways.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated lead frame structure performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical support, establishes electrical connections, and enables thermal management. The 3D printed structure integrates functions that were previously performed by separate components (lead frame for support and wiring, wires for electrical connection), reducing overall packaging complexity while maintaining or enhancing reliability.
2Device complexity
If multiple assembly steps and solder joints are used, then packaging complexity increases, but manufacturing precision and connection robustness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the lead frame and wires into a single 3D printed component, the patent eliminates multiple assembly steps and solder joints. This single-step manufacturing approach inherently improves manufacturing precision because it removes the cumulative errors and variability associated with multiple assembly operations and soldering processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates the soldering process and intermediate assembly steps from the manufacturing workflow. By taking out these complex joining operations and replacing them with direct 3D printed integration, the method reduces packaging assembly complexity and improves manufacturing precision through a streamlined, single-step process.
3Ease of operation
If traditional wiring with joints is used, then assembly is simpler, but thermal stability and resistance to delamination are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of lead frame and wires into a single 3D printed structure creates continuous material pathways without joints or interfaces. This merging eliminates the weak points where delamination could occur during thermal cycling, thereby improving thermal stability while maintaining ease of operation through the automated 3D printing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes composite material structures in the 3D printed lead frame, potentially incorporating different materials with complementary properties (e.g., conductive materials for electrical pathways, thermally stable materials for structural support). This composite approach enhances thermal stability and resistance to delamination while maintaining manufacturing efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic component includes one or more circuits having electrical connections coupled therewith. The electrical connections include a lead frame as well as electrical wires coupling the circuit or circuits to respective portions of the lead frame. The electrical wires may be formed as one piece with the respective portion of the lead frame without joints therebetween, e.g., by 3D printing.