Molding Methods To Manufacture Single-Chip Chip-On-Board USB Device
First Claim
1. A low-profile Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) device comprising:
- a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) including;
a printed circuit board (PCB) including a PCB handle section and a PCB plug section, the PCB having opposing first and second surfaces, a plurality of metal contacts disposed on the first surface of the PCB plug section, at least one passive component mounted on the second surface of the PCB handle section, at least one unpackaged integrated circuit (IC) die mounted on the second surface of the PCB handle section, and a plurality of conductive traces formed on the PCB such that each conductive trace is electrically connected to at least one of an associated metal contact, said at least one IC die and said at least one passive component; and
a single-piece molded housing formed on the second surface of the PCBA such that said at least one passive component and said at least one IC die are covered by said molded housing, and such that substantially all of the first surface of the PCB is exposed.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A low-profile Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) device includes a PCBA in which all passive components and unpackaged IC chips are attached to a single side of a PCB opposite to the metal contacts. The IC chips include, for example, a USB controller chip and a flash memory chip, or a single-chip (combined USB controller/flash memory) chip. Multiple flash IC chips are optionally stacked to increase storage capacity. The IC chip(s) are attached to the PCB by wire bonding or other chip-on-board (COB) technique. The passive components are attached by conventional surface mount technology (SMT) techniques. A molded housing is then formed over the IC chips and passive components such that the device has a uniform thickness. The low-profile USB device is optionally used as a modular insert that is mounted onto a metal case to provide a USB assembly having a plug shell similar to a standard USB male connector.
124 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A low-profile Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) device comprising:
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a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) including;
a printed circuit board (PCB) including a PCB handle section and a PCB plug section, the PCB having opposing first and second surfaces, a plurality of metal contacts disposed on the first surface of the PCB plug section, at least one passive component mounted on the second surface of the PCB handle section, at least one unpackaged integrated circuit (IC) die mounted on the second surface of the PCB handle section, and a plurality of conductive traces formed on the PCB such that each conductive trace is electrically connected to at least one of an associated metal contact, said at least one IC die and said at least one passive component; and
a single-piece molded housing formed on the second surface of the PCBA such that said at least one passive component and said at least one IC die are covered by said molded housing, and such that substantially all of the first surface of the PCB is exposed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) assembly comprising:
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a low-profile device including;
a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) including a printed circuit board (PCB) having opposing first and second surfaces, a plurality of metal contacts disposed on the first surface, at least one passive component mounted on the second surface, and at least one unpackaged integrated circuit (IC) die mounted on the second surface of the PCB handle section, and a plurality of conductive traces formed on the PCB such that each conductive trace is electrically connected to at least one of an associated metal contact, the IC die and the passive component, and a single-piece molded housing formed on the second surface of the PCBA such that said at least one passive component and said at least one IC die are covered by said molded housing, and such that substantially all of the first surface of the PCB is exposed; and
a metal case fixedly connected to the low-profile device such that the metal contacts are accessible through a front opening defined by said metal case. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for producing a Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) device comprising:
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producing a printed circuit board (PCB) including opposing first and second surfaces, a plurality of metal contacts disposed on the first surface, a plurality of first contact pads disposed on the second surface, a plurality of second contact pads disposed on the second surface, and a plurality of conductive traces formed on the PCB such that each conductive trace is electrically connected to at least one of an associated metal contact, a first contact pad and a second contact pad;
attaching at least one passive component to the first contact pads using a surface mount technique;
attaching at least one unpackaged integrated circuit (IC) die to the second contact pads using a chip-on-board technique; and
forming a single-piece molded housing on the second surface of the PCB such that said at least one passive component and said at least one IC die are covered by said molded housing, and such that substantially all of the first surface of the PCB is exposed. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification