Method of making electrical connector on a flexible carrier

Abstract

A compliant, scalable, thermal-electrical-mechanical, flexible electrical connector. In one configuration, the flexible electrical connector comprises a flexible substrate, a first and second conductive layer, and a plating contiguously applied over the conductive layers and holes through the substrate. The first and second conductive layers are adhered to opposite sides of the flexible substrate and have a plurality of raised contact elements in registration with at least a subset of the holes. At least some contact elements on the first and second conductive layers that oppose each other are in electrical communication with one another by way of the plating.

1 . A method of making an electrical connector, comprising:
 forming a plurality of through holes in a flexible substrate;   securing a conductive sheet to the flexible substrate with adhesive material, the conductive sheet including a plurality of contact elements in registration with the plurality of through holes, the contact elements having a contact flange extending away from the flexible substrate;   singulating portions of the conductive sheet to isolate respective ones of the contact elements; and   providing a region between the flexible substrate and the conductive sheet into which excess adhesive material can flow away from the contact flange.   
   
   
       2 . The method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 1  further comprising the steps of
 providing the electrical connector with a compound compliance, the compound compliance CC comprising a first compliance C 1  based on compliance of the flexible substrate and a second compliance C 2  based on the compliance of the electrical contact elements, the compound compliance CC being greater than either one of the first compliance C 1  and the second compliance C 2 .   
   
   
       3 . The method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 1  further including the step of plating through holes in the flexible substrate to provide an electrical connection through the flexible substrate. 
   
   
       4 . The method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 3  wherein the step of plating the through holes also includes the step of plating at least one of the contact elements to at least one of the through holes to provide an electrically-conductive path from the at least one of the contact elements and the at least one of the through holes. 
   
   
       5 . The method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 1  wherein the method further includes the step of forming the conductive sheet into a three dimensional shape prior to securing it to the flexible substrate. 
   
   
       6 . The method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 1  wherein the step of singulating portions of the conductive sheet includes the step of chemically singulating the contacts. 
   
   
       7 . The method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 1  wherein the flexible substrate is provided with a first and second surface and the method includes the step of mounting a second set of electrical contacts on a different surface from the surface on which the sheet of contacts is mounted. 
   
   
       8 . The method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 7  wherein at least some of the set of contacts mounted on the first surface are connected to at least some of the contacts in the second set of contacts and contacts in the first set are couple through the through holes to contacts in the second set of contacts. 
   
   
       9 . The method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 8  wherein the method further includes the step of contiguously applying a conductive material to the contacts and the through holes to provide electrical connection between at least one contact and one through hole. 
   
   
       10 . An electrical connector formed using the steps of the process of  claim 1 . 
   
   
       11 . A method of making an electrical connector, comprising the steps of:
 forming a flexible insulating substrate with a plurality of through holes; and   securing a plurality of compliant electrical contact elements to the flexible insulating substrate, at least some of the electrical contact elements in registration with at least one of the plurality of through holes, with the compliant electrical contact elements having contact flanges extending away from the flexible substrate; and   providing an electrically-conductive material to electrically interconnect the through hole and at least one compliant electrical contact elements to form an electrical path through at least one electrical contact element and the through hole with which it is in registration.   
   
   
       12 . A method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 11  and further including the steps of forming a plurality of contacts from a single piece of conductive material, securing the piece of conductive material to the flexible substrate and singulating portions of the conductive material to isolate respective ones of the contact elements. 
   
   
       13 . A method of making an electrical conductor including the steps of  claim 12  and further including the steps of etching a flat conductive sheet to define electrical contacts and forming the electrical contacts into a three dimensional shape before securing the conductive sheet to the flexible substrate. 
   
   
       14 . A method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 13  wherein the connector has a compliance factor which is greater than the compliance of the electrical contacts. 
   
   
       15 . A method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 13  wherein the method includes choosing the material for the contacts to provide a first compliance factor and choosing the material for the flexible substrate to provide a second compliance factor and the electrical connector has a compliance factor which is greater than either one of the first compliance factor and the second compliance factor. 
   
   
       16 . A method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 11  wherein the step of securing the contacts to the flexible substrate including the step of applying adhesive and the method further includes providing a region within the electrical connector into which excess adhesive may accumulate. 
   
   
       17 . An electrical connector formed by the process of  claim 11 . 
   
   
       18 . A method of making an electrical connector comprising the steps of:
 forming a flexible substrate with a plurality of through holes;   etching a first conductive sheet into the shape of a plurality of two dimensional electrical contacts, then forming the sheet of electrical contacts into a three-dimensional shape;   stacking the first conductive sheet with etched and formed electrical contacts on the flexible substrate;   securing the first conductive sheet with etched and formed electrical contacts to the flexible substrate in a first plane;   depositing plating contiguously over the electrical contacts and within through holes in the flexible substrate;   singulating individual ones of the electrical contacts; and   mounting a second conductive sheet to the flexible substrate on a second plane different from the first plane.   
   
   
       19 . A method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 18  wherein the step of securing includes the steps of using an adhesive material and pressing the conductive sheet to the substrate while applying heat. 
   
   
       20 . A method of making an electrical connector including the steps of  claim 18  wherein the step of securing includes the step of applying adhesive and providing a recess into which excess adhesive can accumulate. 
   
   
       21 . An electrical connector made by the steps of the process of  claim 18 .