IP Library Granted Patent US 9,250,123
Granted Patent B2
US 9,250,123 · App. 14/287,390 · Granted Feb 2, 2016

Method for assembling a circuit carrier with a housing component, and optical unit

Inventors: Martin Hardegger (Sargans, CH); Henry Schulze (Tartar, DE)
Assignee: Rockwell Automation Safely AG
G01J1/42G01B11/00H01L33/60H05K13/0015H01L33/486H01L2933/0033H05K3/303Y10T29/49769Y10T29/49826
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,250,123
App. No.
14/287,390
Granted
Feb 2, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for assembling a circuit carrier with a housing component and furthermore to an optical unit for emitting and/or receiving radiation that is fabricated using this particular method of assembling and aligning the circuit carrier with the housing component. The method comprises the following steps: providing said circuit carrier, wherein on said circuit carrier there is arranged at least one electronic component, and providing said housing component having at least one first opening; aligning said circuit carrier in a way that said electronic component is aligned with respect to said first opening in the housing component, wherein the electronic component is directly used as a fiducial for its own position on the circuit carrier; fixing the circuit carrier at the housing component.

Claims (21)

1. A method of assembling a circuit carrier with a housing component, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

providing said circuit carrier, wherein on said circuit carrier there is arranged at least one first electronic component;

providing said housing component having at least one first opening;

aligning said circuit carrier in a way that said electronic component is aligned with respect to said first opening in the housing component, wherein the first electronic component is directly used as a fiducial for its own position on the circuit carrier; and

fixing the circuit carrier at the housing component.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the step of aligning the circuit carrier, an optical evaluation of the position of the first electronic component is performed by taking and evaluating images of the electronic component through the first opening.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first electronic component is an optoelectronic component which is operable to send and/or receive radiation.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the step of fixing the circuit carrier at the housing component, one of a laser welding step, an ultrasonic welding step and a gluing step is performed.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said circuit carrier comprises at least one second opening and a laser beam is being directed through said second opening for performing the laser welding step.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the step of fixing the circuit carrier at the housing component, a hot stamping step is performed.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein said first opening in the housing component is an optically functional aperture for shaping one of an incident and an emitted radiation beam during operation of the optoelectronic component.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first electronic component is assembled on the circuit carrier in a chip-on-board, COB, technique.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said circuit carrier comprises a metal core printed circuit board, MCPCB.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing at least one distancing element at the circuit carrier for establishing a predefined distance between the housing component and the circuit carrier in a direction across a plane defined by the circuit carrier.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein, during the alignment step, said circuit carrier is moved with respect to the housing component by means of electronically controlled actuators in at least two dimensions.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of aligning a second electronic component when assembling the second electronic component on said circuit carrier by using the first electronic component as a fiducial for its own position on the circuit carrier.

13. An optical unit comprising an optoelectronic component configured to one of send and receive radiation and a housing element with an aperture for shaping said radiation, wherein the optical unit is assembled using the method according to claim 1 .

14. The optical unit of claim 13 , wherein said circuit carrier comprises a metal core printed circuit board, MCPCB.

15. The optical unit of claim 14 , wherein said metal core comprises an aluminium alloy.

16. The optical unit of claim 13 , wherein said housing component comprises an overmolded metal structure.

17. The optical unit of claim 13 , wherein said housing component comprises a two-component part integrating at least one transparent lens with an opaque housing.

Assignments (3)
MERGER Recorded Jun 10, 2019
From: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION SAFETY AG
To: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION SWITZERLAND GMBH
Reel/Frame 049415/0679 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 7, 2015
From: CEDES SAFETY & AUTOMATION AG
To: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION SAFETY AG
Reel/Frame 037229/0727 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 27, 2014
From: HARDEGGER, MARTIN; SCHULZE, HENRY
To: CEDES SAFETY & AUTOMATION AG
Reel/Frame 032965/0037 →
Priority Claims (1)
EP 13169321 · May 27, 2013 · regional
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20140346318A1 · Nov 27, 2014