Flexible circuit board for tablet computing device

• US 6,914,197 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2004
• Issued: 07/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Zebra Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: Motion Computing Incorporated (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Doherty, John, Steigerwald, Todd W., Altounian, David, Leveridge, Philip, West, Jefferson Blake, Cutherell, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuneo, Kamand
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, ISHWARBHAI B
• Application Number:
  US10/756,926
• Publication Number:
  US 20040188133A1
• Time in Patent Office: 538 Days
• Field of Search: 174/254, 174/72.R, 174/72.A, 174/71.B, 174/52.2, 174/52.3, 174/52.4, 361/683, 361/686, 361/750, 361/751, 710/303, 710/304
• US Class Current: 174/254
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/028 Bending or folding regions of flexible printed circuits H05K1/0283 takes precedence

Abstract

The present invention provides a tablet computer and a docking station assembly. This docking station includes a docking assembly for positioning with three degrees of freedom and having a data connector for mechanically supporting and interfacing with the tablet computer. A support member couples the docking assembly to an expansion base. The base includes a number of ports for interfacing with a variety of peripheral devices or power supplies. These varieties of ports mount to a printed circuit board contained within the expansion base. A flexible printed circuit (FPC) combines the signal pathways for the variety of ports, allowing the signal pathways to travel from the printed circuit board and to the data connector. The tablet computing device has a plurality of contact or touch points positioned on the right and left edges of the tablet to facilitate aligning the tablet to the docking assembly in either a landscape or portrait mode.

Claims

1. A flexible printed circuit pathway, comprising:

a first leg of flexible printed circuit oriented in a first plane, wherein signal traces within said first leg run parallel to said first leg of flexible printed circuit;

a second leg of flexible printed circuit, wherein signal traces within said second leg run parallel to said second leg of flexible printed circuit;

a first bend, coupling said first leg to said second leg and wherein signal traces within said first bend curve to match a curvature of said first bend;

a third leg of flexible printed circuit oriented in a second plane, wherein signal traces within said third leg run parallel to said third leg of flexible printed circuit;

a second bend, coupling said third leg to said second leg and wherein signal traces within said second bend curve to match a curvature of said second bend; and

a spiral object formed by said second leg, wherein said second plane twists about a center of said spiral object without placing a tearing stress on said flexible printed circuit.

2. The flexible printed circuit of claim 1, wherein said first leg and/or third leg comprise at least one elbow, wherein said elbow divides said first leg and/or third leg into at least two sections oriented in different planes.

3. The flexible printed circuit of claim 2, wherein a section of said third leg is oriented in a plane parallel to a section of said first leg, and wherein said third leg rotates within said plane parallel to a section of said first leg by twisting said spiral object.

4. The flexible printed circuit of claim 1, further comprising electrical connectors coupling said signal traces on said first and third legs to external circuits.

5. The flexible printed circuit of claim 1, wherein said signal traces carry a plurality of signals selected from the group consisting of:

DC power, AC power, VGA, USB, analog audio, digital audio, analog video, digital video, LAN, WAN, and IEEE 1394.

6. The flexible printed circuit of claim 1, wherein separation zones between said signal traces prevent cross-contamination of signals.

7. The flexible printed circuit of claim 1, wherein said flexible printed circuit comprise:

a lower and upper poly layer that sandwich a ground trace layer and signal trace layer electrically separated by an insulating layer.

8. The flexible printed circuit of claim 1, wherein said ground trace layer and signal trace layer comprise 1 oz, ¾

oz, or ½

oz copper.

9. The flexible printed circuit of claim 2, wherein said ground trace layer and signal trace layer thin locally to increase said flexible printed circuits flexibility.