Method and appratus of recycling printed circuit board

• US 20040111854A1
• Filed: 03/26/2003
• Published: 06/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Kamimura, Rikiya, Nakamura, Katsumi, Taniguchi, Toshihisa, Kondo, Kouji, Sakaida, Atsusi
• Granted Patent: US 7,107,661 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 29/403.3
• CPC Class Codes: B09B 5/00 Operations not covered by a single other subclass or by a single other group in this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 17/02 Separating plastics from other materials
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 2017/0255 using different melting or softening temperatures of the materials to be separated
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 2017/0456 Pressing tools with calibrated openings, e.g. in sizing plates, for disintegrating solid materials
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 2017/0464 Solid state shear extrusion pulverisation
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/3425 Printed circuits
• CPC Class Codes: C22B 7/001 Dry processes
• CPC Class Codes: C22B 7/005 Separation by a physical processing technique only, e.g. by mechanical breaking
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/0129 Thermoplastic polymer, e.g. auto-adhesive layer; Shaping of thermoplastic polymer
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2203/178 Demolishing, e.g. recycling, reverse engineering, destroying for security purposes; Using biodegradable materials
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/22 Secondary treatment of printed circuits H05K3/1283 takes precedence; embedding circuits in grooves by pressure H05K3/107
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/4069 for via connections in organic insulating substrates
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/4614 the electrical connections between the circuit boards being made during lamination
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/4632 laminating thermoplastic or uncured resin sheets comprising printed circuits without added adhesive materials between the sheets
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 10/20 Recycling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/62 Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49751 Scrap recovering or utilizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49755 Separating one material from another
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49757 by burning or heating
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53 : Means to assemble or disassemble
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53274 : Means to disassemble electrical device

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus of recycling a printed circuit board for separating and retrieving a metallic material, which includes a printed metallic material, and an insulating material, both composing the printed circuit board. Both the metallic material and the insulating material, which are separated and retrieved, are possible for recycling. In the method for recycling the printed circuit board, hot filtration equipment 4a and resin-metal separation equipment 51 are used in hot filtration process P400. The waste printed circuit board 1 is heated and force-filtered so that only the insulating material 1a pass through the filter. Then, the insulating material 1a and the metallic material 1b are separated and retrieved. It is preferred that the insulating body base 23 of the printed circuit board 100 as the waste printed circuit board is made of thermoplastic resin or a mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic loading material. As a result, when the retrieved metallic material and the retrieved insulating material amount to necessities of recycling respectively, both the metallic material and the insulating material are possible for recycling.

Claims

1. A method of recycling a printed circuit board to separate and to retrieve an insulating material comprising the printed circuit board and a metallic material including a printed metallic material and also comprising the printed circuit board from a waste printed circuit board, which is used in waste electric equipment or a waste produced in a process of manufacturing electric equipment,

wherein only the insulating material is passed by heating and force-filtering the printed circuit board, the insulating material and the metallic material are separated and retrieved, and at least either the insulating material or the metallic material is recycled.

2. A method of recycling a printed circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the force-filtering is attained by filtering the printed circuit board with heating and pressurizing.

3. A method of recycling a printed circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the printed circuit board comprises an insulating body base, which is made of either thermoplastic resin only or mixture of thermoplastic resin and organic loading material, and a conductive printed circuit, which is made of the conductive metallic material and disposed on a surface of the insulating body base, and

wherein the conductive printed circuit is formed on the insulating body base, which is an insulating body base printed with conductive circuit, after that the insulating body bases printed with conductive circuit are stacked together, adhered together by heating and pressurizing, and formed into a multi-layer printed circuit board.

4. A method of recycling a printed circuit board according to claim 3, wherein a modulus of the thermoplastic resin is in a range of 1-1000 MPa at a heating temperature at which heating and pressurizing is performed.

5. A method of recycling a printed circuit board according to claim 3, wherein the insulating body base is composed of a resin film made of either the thermoplastic resin only or the mixture of thermoplastic resin and organic loading material, wherein the insulating body base involves a via-hole and a conductive product integrated in the via-hole, wherein the conductive printed circuits are electrically connected together with the conductive product, and

wherein the conductive product is made of metallic material only or the metallic material and either the thermoplastic resin comprising the insulating body base or the mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic loading material also composing the insulating body base.

6. A method of recycling a printed circuit board to separate and to retrieve an insulating material composing a printed circuit board and a metallic material including a printed metallic material and also composing the printed circuit board from a waste printed circuit board, which is used in waste electric equipment or a waste produced in a process of manufacturing electric equipment, comprising:

a separating process, in which the printed circuit board is shattered into pieces, the pieces is dipped in a acid, the metallic material is dissolved in the acid, the insulating material is separated by filtering the acid, and the metallic material and the insulating material are retrieved respectively.

7. A method of recycling a printed circuit board according to claim 6, wherein the printed circuit board comprises an insulating body base, which is made of either thermoplastic resin only or mixture of thermoplastic resin and organic loading material, and a conductive printed circuit, which is made of the conductive metallic material and disposed on a surface of the insulating body base,

wherein the conductive printed circuit is formed on the insulating body base, which is an insulating body base printed with conductive circuit, after that the insulating body bases printed with conductive circuit are stacked together, adhered together by heating and pressurizing, and formed into a multi-layer printed circuit board, and

wherein a modulus of the thermoplastic resin is in a range of 1-1000 MPa at a heating temperature at which heating and pressurizing is performed.

8. A method of recycling a printed circuit board according to claim 6, wherein the insulating body base is composed of a resin film made of either the thermoplastic resin only or the mixture of thermoplastic resin and organic loading material, wherein the insulating body base involves a via-hole and a conductive product integrated in the via-hole, wherein the conductive printed circuits are electrically connected together with the conductive product, and

wherein the conductive product is made of metallic material only or the metallic material and either the thermoplastic resin comprising the insulating body base or the mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic loading material also composing the insulating body base.

9. An apparatus of separating resin and metal to separate a resin material composing an insulating material and a metallic material so as to separate and to retrieve the insulating material composing a printed circuit board and the metallic material including a printed metallic material and also composing the printed circuit board from a waste printed circuit board, which is used in waste electric equipment or a waste produced in a process of manufacturing electric equipment, comprising

a pressurizing means for pressurizing the waste printed circuit board, a heating means for heating up the waste printed circuit board to a predetermined temperature at which the waste printed circuit board is at least softened, and a filtering means for filtering the resin material from the waste printed circuit board that is maintained at the predetermined temperature by means of the heating means.

10. An apparatus of separating resin and metal according to claim 9, wherein the pressurizing means includes a driving shaft, which has a rotational body for transporting the waste printed circuit board, a driving unit, which rotates the driving shaft, and a holder unit, which accommodates the rotational body,

wherein a predetermined pressure caused by a rotational force of the rotational body applies to an inner circumference wall of the holder unit, which accommodates the rotational body.

11. An apparatus of separating resin and metal according to claim 10, wherein the filtering means includes a filter, which passes only the resin material from the waste printed circuit board,

Wherein the filtering means is disposed and exposed on the inner circumference wall of the holder unit, so that the resin material is retrieved in the radial outward direction of the driving shaft.

12. An apparatus of separating resin and metal according to claim 11, wherein the filter is made of a sintered metal.

13. An apparatus of separating resin and metal according to claim 10, wherein the rotational body is a helical rotational body,

wherein the driving unit rotates the rotational body in the helical direction, and wherein the filtering means is disposed on the inner circumference wall on a top end side of the rotational body, wherein the top end is driven in the helical direction of the rotational body.

14. An apparatus of separating resin and metal according to claim 10, wherein the driving shaft of the rotational body is disposed in a vertical direction.

15. An apparatus of separating resin and metal according to claim 10, wherein the holder unit provides a space, which is located on the opposite side of the driving unit and capable of reserving the metallic material.

16. An apparatus of separating resin and metal according to claim 10, wherein the heating means is a heater for heating the waste printed circuit board, and

wherein the heater is disposed on the inner circumference wall of the holder unit