PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD WITH A FUSE AND METHOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF A FUSE
First Claim
1. A method for forming a fuse which electrically connects two metal surfaces that are arranged on a printed circuit board next to each other and spaced apart from each other, comprising the steps of:
- partially covering the two metal surfaces with a protective coating, while a partial region forming a contact region remains uncovered,applying liquid soft solder material onto the two uncovered partial regions to bridges the gap between the two metal surfaces andafter the soft solder material has solidified, removing the protective coating in a surrounding area of the solder material to form receiving regions which are wetted by the solder material when the latter fuses, with the result that solder material flows off from a printed circuit board region between the two metal surfaces and the electrical contact formed by the solder material is interrupted.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Some invention embodiments relate to a method for forming a fuse which electrically connects two metal surfaces (2) that are arranged on a printed circuit board (5) next to each other and spaced apart from each other. It is provided according to the invention that the two metal surfaces (2) are each partially covered with a protective coating (5), wherein a partial region forming a contact region (2a) remains uncovered, liquid soft solder material (1) which bridges the gap between the two metal surfaces (2) is applied onto the two uncovered partial regions (2a), and the protective coating (5) in a surrounding area of the solder material (1) is removed after the soft solder material (1) has solidified, in order to form receiving regions (2b) which are wetted by the solder material (1) when the latter fuses, with the result that the solder material (1) flows off from a printed circuit board region (3) between the two metal surfaces (2) and the electrical contact formed by the solder material (1) is interrupted. Furthermore, other invention embodiments relate to a printed circuit board with such a fuse.
19 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for forming a fuse which electrically connects two metal surfaces that are arranged on a printed circuit board next to each other and spaced apart from each other, comprising the steps of:
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partially covering the two metal surfaces with a protective coating, while a partial region forming a contact region remains uncovered, applying liquid soft solder material onto the two uncovered partial regions to bridges the gap between the two metal surfaces and after the soft solder material has solidified, removing the protective coating in a surrounding area of the solder material to form receiving regions which are wetted by the solder material when the latter fuses, with the result that solder material flows off from a printed circuit board region between the two metal surfaces and the electrical contact formed by the solder material is interrupted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A printed circuit board with a fuse which connects two metal surfaces in an electrically conducting manner, said metal surfaces being arranged next to each other and spaced apart from each other, wherein
the fuse is formed by a soft solder material which covers a contact region of each of the two metal surfaces and bridges the gap therebetween, a partial region of at least one of the metal surfaces that is arranged adjacent to the contact region is free from solder material and forms a receiving region that can be wetted by molten solder material, said receiving region being wetted by the solder material when the latter fuses, with the result that solder material is drawn off from a printed circuit board region between the two metal surfaces and the electrical contact formed by the solder material is interrupted.
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20. A printed circuit board comprising:
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two metal surfaces arranged next to each other and spaced apart from each other, each metal surface having a contact region, at least one of the contact regions having an indentation and the other contact region having a bulge that projects into the indentation, a gap defined between the two metal surfaces; a fuse electrically connecting the two metal surfaces, the fuse formed by a soft solder material which at least partially covers the contact region of each of the two metal surfaces and bridges the gap therebetween, a receiving region of at least one of the metal surfaces formed at the broad end of a track and arranged about the contact region in the general shape of a C and free from solder material, each receiving region having an area that is larger than the area of the contact region it is adjacent to, the receiving region configured to be wetted by molten solder material when the solder material fuses, with the result that solder material is drawn off from a printed circuit board region between the two metal surfaces and the electrical contact formed by the solder material is interrupted; and
,a field-effect transistor thermally coupled to the fuse and configured to switch a current flowing through the fuse.
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Specification