Solderless PCB Interconnects for Compact Sensor Probes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sensor probes for soil and snow profiling are bulky, labor-intensive, and costly due to thick tubes and complex wiring, leading to inefficient deployment and inaccurate measurements.
Innovation Solution
The technique involves cascading thin printed circuit boards (PCBs) with angled pins and slots for electrical connection, eliminating the need for wires and soldering, allowing for a compact, cost-effective, and quick assembly of sensor probes that can be easily inserted into the ground without drilling boreholes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If thick tubes with arrays of sensors and connectors are used, then sensor functionality is achieved, but the probe becomes bulky and deployment becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The probe is segmented into multiple thin PCB boards arranged in a stack, with each board containing a subset of sensors. This segmentation allows the probe to maintain sensor functionality while reducing the overall diameter from inches to millimeters, enabling easy insertion into narrow boreholes without requiring complex thick-tube structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional array of sensors on flat PCBs to a three-dimensional stacked configuration. By arranging thin PCB boards vertically in a stack and using edge-to-edge electrical connections, the design achieves compact volumetric packaging that reduces the probe's external diameter while maintaining all sensor functions.
2Ease of manufacture
If wires and connectors are used to connect sensors on PCBs, then electrical connections are established, but the assembly becomes labor-intensive and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical connection function is merged directly into the mechanical stacking structure. Conductive traces on the edges of adjacent PCB boards make direct contact when boards are stacked, eliminating the need for separate wires and connectors. This integration reduces assembly to a simple stacking operation, dramatically lowering labor costs and assembly time while removing wiring complexity.
3Measurement precision
If boreholes are drilled in the ground to position sensor probes, then accurate probe positioning is achieved, but soil disturbance occurs and measurements may become inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The probe uses an ultra-thin construction with PCB boards only 0.8mm thick and a total diameter of 5-10mm, allowing it to be inserted into narrow pre-existing boreholes or even directly into the ground without drilling. This thin-film approach minimizes soil disturbance while maintaining measurement accuracy, as the probe occupies minimal space and causes minimal disruption to the surrounding soil structure.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to printed circuit boards. In one aspect, a device includes a first board and a second board. The first board includes at least two pins defined at an end of the first board. The first pin and the second pin are positioned along a first line and parallel to the first line. The second board includes at least two slots defined at an end of the second board. The first slot and the second slot are positioned along a second line and are angled from the second line by about ±10° to 15°. Each of the pins in the first board is engaged with each of the slots in the second board and forms an electrical connection between the first pin and the first slot and the second pin and the second slot.