Photocopying – Miscellaneous
Patent
1982-03-01
1985-01-08
Wintercorn, Richard A.
Photocopying
Miscellaneous
355132, 430 22, G03B 2702
Patent
active
044924607
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a method of making representations of, and a method of and means for making, printed circuit boards. The invention also relates to printed circuit boards and board assemblies.
Printed circuit boards are normally manufactured by photographically reproducing an accurate positive or negative print of a circuit diagram, commonly referred to as a master, onto a copper covered insulation board, and removing, by chemical means, the unwanted copper.
Electronic systems are conventionally assembled on printed circuit boards (p.c.b.s.) that are designed to a particular specification. Each board carries out a circuit function which is defined at the time that the board is designed. Certain limited adaptation may be possible by providing links or other variable devices, but the function of each board is virtually fixed.
If flexibility is required in an overall system then the latter is subdivided into defined function portions each of which is designed as a separate printed circuit board. The boards required to form a complete system circuit are fitted to a mounting frame and connected by means of wiring and connectors.
It is always desirable, from the viewpoint of cost and reliability, to minimise the number of different boards, so as to minimise the interconnections. For small systems, it is highly desirable to have only a single board which is easier to handle, manufacture and mount than a plurality. This is often not sufficiently flexible, however, because the cost of designing a board is usually between 100 and 1000 times the cost of the board itself, and therefore, a board designed for one application will not be economically viable unless required in quantities of at least 100.
Microprocessors can now be effectively employed as a substitute for small control systems, since the price of the processor, associated memory, and programming has fallen to a point where systems of a few relays can be replaced.
However, these small systems comprise widely varying configurations, and are only produced in small numbers. Mounting frame systems are not economically viable and may often make the system too bulky to be accommodated inside a small machine.
According to a first aspect of this invention there is provided a method of making a system of representations of printed circuit board sections and comprising the steps of forming at least two printed circuit board (p.c.b.) section representations having portions corresponding to inter-p.c.b. section connections which are to provide interconnections between two circuit portions respectively represented by the representations, characterised by arranging the corresponding inter-p.c.b. section connection portions of the representations such that visually continuous interconnections can be formed between the circuit portions when the representations are caused to provide a visual pattern of the complete circuit represented by the combined representations.
According to a second aspect of this invention there is provided means for making a printed circuit board and comprising at least two printed circuit board section representations having portions corresponding to inter-p.c.b. section connections which are to provide interconnections between two circuit portions respectively represented by the representations, characterised in that the corresponding inter-p.c.b. section connection portions of the representations are such that visually continuous interconnections can be formed between the circuit portions when the representations are caused to provide a visual pattern of the complete circuit represented by the combined representations.
Conveniently the representations comprise visual representations in the form of photographically recorded images of the relevant circuit portions, the overall visual pattern being produced by appropriate juxtaposition of the visual representations or of their simultaneously or successively produced images on a receptive surface such as a light-sensitised copper coated insulation board or a photographic element.
A printed c
REFERENCES:
patent: 3477848 (1969-11-01), Pritchard, Jr.
patent: 3740225 (1973-06-01), Fiderer
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