Manufacturing miniature hearing aid having a multi-layer circuit arrangement
First Claim
1. A method for manufacturing a miniature hearing aid having a plurality of components and a multi-layer circuit board contained in a housing, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) drilling through holes at selected locations in at least some of a plurality of unassembled layers;
(b) combining a set of said layers in registry to form a subpacket;
(c) drilling through holes at selected locations in said subpacket;
(d) adding at least a further one of said layers to the drilled subpacket;
(e) drilling through holes in the combination of said subpacket and said at least one further layer;
(f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until a circuit board of desired thickness and hole density is completed, said circuit board having a plurality of exposed holes, and;
(g) electrically connecting at least some of said plurality of components to said exposed holes of said circuit board.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
As opposed to standard circuit board fabrication techniques, whereby plated holes are commonly bored through all the layers of a multilayer board, the circuit board for a hearing aid according to the invention is fabricated by alternatingly forming plated holes in subpackets of the circuit board and then joining together the subpackets until the completed multilayer board is bonded together. The circuit board can be provided with plated internal holes, plated blind holes as well as standard through holes. An especially high component density on the two surfaces of the circuit board is acheived, as well as the fabrication of extremely thin and flexible multilayer circuit boards.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for manufacturing a miniature hearing aid having a plurality of components and a multi-layer circuit board contained in a housing, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) drilling through holes at selected locations in at least some of a plurality of unassembled layers; (b) combining a set of said layers in registry to form a subpacket; (c) drilling through holes at selected locations in said subpacket; (d) adding at least a further one of said layers to the drilled subpacket; (e) drilling through holes in the combination of said subpacket and said at least one further layer; (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until a circuit board of desired thickness and hole density is completed, said circuit board having a plurality of exposed holes, and; (g) electrically connecting at least some of said plurality of components to said exposed holes of said circuit board. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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8. A method for manufacturing a miniature hearing aid having a plurality of components and multi-layer circuit board contained in a housing, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) drilling through holes at selected locations in at least some of a plurality of unassembled layers; (b) dividing said layers into a plurality of sets and arranging layers in registry in any set containing more than one layer; (c) drilling through holes at selected locations in any of said sets containing more than one layer; (d) combining two selected sets in registry to form a set combination; (e) drilling through holes at selected locations in said set combination; (f) combining a further set with said set combination to form a further set combination; (g) drilling through holes at selected locations in said further set combination; and (h) repeating steps (f) and (g) until a circuit board of desired thickness and hole density is completed, said circuit board having a plurality of exposed holes, and; (i) electrically connecting at least some of said plurality of components to said exposed holes of said circuit board.
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9. A miniature hearing aid comprising:
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(a) a circuit board manufactured by drilling through holes at selected locations in at least some of a plurality of unassembled layers, (b) combining a set of said layers in registry to form a subpacket, (c) drilling through holes at selected locations in said subpacket, (d) adding at least a further one of said layers to the drilled subpacket, (e) drilling through holes in the combination of said subpacket and said at least one further layer, (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until said circuit board is completed, said circuit board having a plurality of exposed holes; a plurality of electrical components electrically connected to said exposed holes of said circuit board; and a housing in which said circuit board and said components are contained.
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15. A miniature hearing aid comprising:
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a housing; a plurality of components disposed in said housing; a circuit board in said housing to which at least some of said components are electrically connected, said circuit board having at least one section consisting of a section having a first selected number of layers with blind and through holes selectively drilled therein and at least one additional section consisting of a second selected number of layers less than said first selected number of layers; and means for mounting said circuit board in said housing bent at said additional section. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification