Molded Edge Connector with Laser-Etched Traces for MSA Tolerance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production of printed circuit boards with card edge connectors that meet tight Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) tolerances is challenging, often resulting in either non-compliance or high production costs with low yields.
Innovation Solution
A molded edge connector made of plastic resin with conductive traces and contact pads, formed using laser etching and injection molding, which includes reference features for precise placement within MSA-defined tolerances, allowing for attachment to a printed circuit board and connection to a host device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If card edge connectors are formed integrally as part of a printed circuit board, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to inability to meet tight MSA tolerances
Solution Approach 1:
The card edge connector is separated from the printed circuit board into two independent components: a molded connector body with integrated conductive traces and a separate PCB. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently with optimized processes, enabling the connector to achieve tight MSA tolerances through precise molding while keeping the overall manufacturing process simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The molded connector body acts as an intermediary component between the printed circuit board and the host device slot. It includes reference features that facilitate precise alignment and attachment to the PCB, ensuring MSA tolerance compliance through the use of positioning structures and registration marks that mediate the connection between components.
2Reliability
If tight MSA tolerances are enforced for card edge connector dimensions, then reliability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to low production yield
Solution Approach 1:
The connector body is pre-formed with integrated conductive traces and reference features during the injection molding process, before attachment to the PCB. This preliminary action ensures that critical dimensions and trace positions are established with high precision during molding, eliminating the need for post-assembly adjustments and reducing defects that would lower yield.
Solution Approach 2:
Traditional mechanical methods of creating conductive paths (such as drilling, plating, or routing) are replaced with direct integration of conductive traces into the molded plastic body. This substitution enables tighter tolerance control through consistent molding processes and eliminates variability associated with multiple mechanical manufacturing steps, thereby improving both reliability and yield.
3Device complexity
If card edge connectors are formed integrally as part of a printed circuit board, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The connector body is formed as a composite structure combining plastic resin with embedded conductive materials (such as metal particles or conductive compounds) within the mold cavity. This composite approach allows conductive traces to be integrated directly into the plastic body during molding, achieving precise trace placement and MSA compliance while maintaining a simple, unified connector structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing process transitions from traditional PCB fabrication parameters (copper thickness, trace width, drill hole dimensions) to injection molding parameters (resin flow, packing pressure, cooling time). This parameter change enables tighter control over conductor position and connector geometry through well-established molding techniques, achieving high precision while keeping the overall device structure simple.
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 production of card edge connectors that meet strict tolerances while reducing production costs and maintaining acceptable yields, ensuring reliable electrical interconnection with host devices.
Implementation Method 1
a portion of the surface whereon the traces and contact pads are defined having been previously laser etched
Implementation Method 2
an injection molded body, the body composed of a plastic resin containing a palladium catalyst
Data Source
AI summary
An edge connector suitable for attachment with a printed circuit board. The edge connector comprises a body composed of a plastic resin, the body defining a first end that is configured to operably attach to a portion of a printed circuit board and a second end configured to operably connect to a slot in a host device and a plurality of conductive traces and contact pads defined on a portion of a surface of the body, the traces being configured to electrically connect with corresponding traces defined on the printed circuit board.