Manufacturing process for a super-digital (SD) flash card with slanted asymmetric circuit board
First Claim
1. An internally-slanted flash-memory device comprising:
- an upper case;
a lower case;
a printed-circuit board assembly (PCBA) that comprises;
a circuit board having wiring traces;
a flash-memory chip mounted to a first surface of the circuit board;
a controller chip mounted to the first surface of the circuit board, the controller chip having a input/output interface circuit for interfacing to an external computer, and a processing unit for accessing the flash-memory chip in response to commands from the external computer received by the input/output interface circuit;
contact pads formed on a second surface of the circuit board, the contact pads for connecting the controller chip to the external computer;
wherein the second surface is opposite the first surface;
wherein the upper case is attached to the lower case during assembly with the PCBA between the upper case and the lower case, with the contact pads exposed through contact-pad openings between the upper case and the lower case, the upper and lower cases encapsulating the circuit board; and
supporting dividers formed on the lower case between pairs of the contact-pad openings, the supporting dividers supporting the circuit board at a slanting angle to a primary surface the upper case, wherein the first surface of the circuit board and the primary surface of the upper case are non-parallel at the slanting angle,wherein the flash-memory chip is block-addressable and not randomly-addressable.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A flash-memory device has a printed-circuit board assembly (PCBA) with a PCB with a flash-memory chip and a controller chip. The controller chip includes an external Secure-Digital (SD) interface, and a processing unit to read blocks of data from the flash-memory chip. The PCBA is encased inside an upper case and a lower case, with SD contact pads on the PCB that fit through contact openings in the upper case. Dividers between openings in the upper case that expose the SD contact pads also support the PCB at a slanted angle to the centerline of the device. The PCB slants upward at the far end to allow more thickness for the chips mounted to the bottom surface of the PCB, and slants downward at the insertion end to position the SD contact pads near the centerline. A metal switch-bar or an over-molded controller die may be substituted.
9 Citations
22 Claims
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1. An internally-slanted flash-memory device comprising:
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an upper case; a lower case; a printed-circuit board assembly (PCBA) that comprises; a circuit board having wiring traces; a flash-memory chip mounted to a first surface of the circuit board; a controller chip mounted to the first surface of the circuit board, the controller chip having a input/output interface circuit for interfacing to an external computer, and a processing unit for accessing the flash-memory chip in response to commands from the external computer received by the input/output interface circuit; contact pads formed on a second surface of the circuit board, the contact pads for connecting the controller chip to the external computer; wherein the second surface is opposite the first surface; wherein the upper case is attached to the lower case during assembly with the PCBA between the upper case and the lower case, with the contact pads exposed through contact-pad openings between the upper case and the lower case, the upper and lower cases encapsulating the circuit board; and supporting dividers formed on the lower case between pairs of the contact-pad openings, the supporting dividers supporting the circuit board at a slanting angle to a primary surface the upper case, wherein the first surface of the circuit board and the primary surface of the upper case are non-parallel at the slanting angle, wherein the flash-memory chip is block-addressable and not randomly-addressable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for manufacturing a slanted flash-memory device comprising:
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forming contact pads on an upper surface of a printed-circuit board (PCB); forming a PCB assembly by soldering a flash-memory chip onto a lower surface of the PCB and soldering a controller chip to the lower surface of the PCB; wherein the contact pads are for carrying signals from an external computer to the controller chip to instruct the controller chip to read blocks of data from the flash-memory chip; forming an upper case by molding plastic; forming ultrasonic ridges on the upper case when forming the upper case; forming a lower case by molding plastic, the lower case having an outside surface as a largest external surface of the lower case; forming a rim on the lower case when forming the lower case; forming supporting dividers on the upper case when forming the upper case, the supporting dividers for supporting the PCB assembly at a slanted angle within the upper case wherein the upper and lower surfaces of the PCB are not parallel with the outside surface of the lower case when assembled; fitting the PCB assembly into the upper case to form a sub-assembly of the PCB assembly and the upper case; aligning the upper case to the lower case until the ultrasonic ridges touch the rim of the lower case; pressing the upper case into the lower case while applying ultrasonic energy to ultrasonically bond the upper case to the lower case through the ultrasonic ridges; wherein the upper and lower surfaces of the PCB are not parallel with the outside surface of the lower case; whereby the PCB assembly is at the slanted angle within the lower case when the slanted flash-memory device is assembled using an ultrasonic bonding process. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A portable flash-memory device comprising:
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upper case means for partially encasing the portable flash-memory device; lower case means for partially encasing the portable flash-memory device; a printed-circuit board assembly (PCBA) that comprises; circuit board means for connecting chips with wiring traces; flash-memory chip means for storing blocks of data, the flash-memory chip means being mounted to a first surface of the circuit board means, wherein the flash-memory chip means are block-addressable and not randomly-addressable; controller chip means, mounted to the first surface of the circuit board means, for controlling access to the flash-memory chip means, the controller chip means comprising an input/output interface means for interfacing to an external computer, and processing unit means for accessing the flash-memory chip means in response to commands from the external computer received by the input/output interface means; contact pad means, formed on a second surface of the circuit board means, for connecting the controller chip means to the external computer; and slant means, formed on the upper case means, for supporting the circuit board means at a slanted angle to a centerline between the lower case means and the upper case means, wherein the circuit board means is slanted and not parallel to the centerline; wherein the upper case means is attached to the lower case means during assembly with the PCBA between the upper case means and the lower case means, with the contact pad means passing through a plurality of openings in the upper case means. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification