Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Having particular housing or support of a transceiver
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-16
2004-03-23
Gary, Erika (Department: 2681)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Having particular housing or support of a transceiver
C455S575100, C455S550100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06711386
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a method for the precision mounting of a first apparatus part on a second apparatus part, the first apparatus part having irregular edges, and the second apparatus part being provided with first positioning means, and the first apparatus part including one or more components positioned on the apparatus part by means of a position reference system.
The invention further relates to an apparatus including at least a first apparatus part and a second apparatus part which are mutually precision-mounted by means of first positioning means on the second apparatus part and second positioning means on the first apparatus part so that components on the first apparatus part are positioned with a well-defined geometrical relationship relatively to structural features on a second apparatus part.
The invention further relates to an apparatus part including one or more components positioned on the apparatus part by means of a position reference system.
The present invention relates to the assembly of planar devices in particular. In mass production of some planar electronic parts, identical devices are replicated on the same substrate (e.g. integrated circuits or micro-mechanical parts (or combinations thereof) on a wafer or electronic displays on a glass plate, etc.) and separated from each other by some sort of cutting process, e.g. a sawing process using a diamond saw. The cutting is performed in predefined scribe lanes whose width and degree of evenness after the cutting are dependent on the particular devices, process, substrate materials and cutting tools in question. Because of this unevenness, it is, however, a common problem to give accurate information on the distance from the outer boundary of the substrate to particular devices or structures on the substrate interior. Hence, the mounting of such cut-out parts based on the outer, uneven, boundary of the part has an inherent inaccuracy originating from the cutting process. This causes problems, when the alignment of a cut-out part in a mounting process relative to another structure has to be made precisely according to the absolute position of a specific component or structural element on the substrate, e.g. the active area of a liquid crystal display or the optical lens of a micro-mechanical, optical device, etc.
The following account of prior art relates to the mounting of a display unit in a mobile telephone.
Display units, in particular liquid crystal displays (LCD) are today placed in a mobile phone by using a carrier or light guide that is mounted on the printed circuit board (PCB). The LCD is positioned on the carrier/light guide, and the carrier and the PCB are mounted on the frame or housing of the phone. The LCD needs to be very accurately positioned on the light guide, so that the display unit is correctly positioned inside the window of the front cover of the frame. Also, the LCD must be extremely accurately positioned with respect to the PCB in order to ensure a safe and reliable electrical contact between the elastomeric connector on the display unit and the corresponding contact portions on the PCB.
The generally flat LCD substrate is positioned on the carrier by means of its outer edges using a frame-like fixture that is mounted on the light guide. The LCD is held between two spring levers on two opposing side edges of the LCD. Thereby, the LCD is claimed and centered in the fixture. The fixture is then mounted on the light guide which is again mounted in the frame by mounting members that can snap into position on the carrier.
The LCD can further be provided with a strip of dual adhesive tape around the front side, so that the LCD is adhesively joined to the inside of the frame. However, with this method of LCD positioning it is difficult to ensure the required accuracy in the LCD position.
The tolerance chain in this assembly is extensive and may sometimes cause the window printing or the front cover to seal the active area of the LCD. This extensive tolerance chain can also result in a loss of contact with the elastomeric connector between the LCD and the PCB.
Beside the extensive tolerance chain in this LCD assembly, this known assembly consists of many parts which make the assembly complicated and relatively labour intensive in order to achieve the required accuracy in the final result.
On this background, it is an object of the invention to provide for a more precise mounting of a first apparatus part having irregular edges on a second apparatus part, thereby improving quality and reducing waste. It is another object of the invention to obtain an assembly that is less labour intensive and easier (and thus potentially of lower cost) to manufacture.
These objects are achieved by the invention as disclosed in claim 1 by laying out at least one distinctive mark by means of the position reference system on said first apparatus part in a well-defined geometrical relationship to said one or more components, by securing second positioning means on the first apparatus part in a well-defined geometrical relationship to the distinctive mark(s) by means of a positioning system, and by mounting the first apparatus part on the second apparatus part by means of said first and second positioning means.
According to the invention, one or more distinctive marks added to the substrate of a first apparatus part by a so-called position reference system used in the production process of the part are used for the positioning and fixing of the part (according to one or more ‘decisive components’ included on the part) with respect to a second apparatus part, said second apparatus part being provided with first positioning means. The relevant distinctive mark(s) is(are) read from the first apparatus part by a positioning system and the information is used to position the part relative to other structures with which it is to be assembled. Second positioning means, designed to co-operate with the first positioning means on the second apparatus part, are secured on the first apparatus part in accordance with the distinctive mark(s) and thus in a well-known geometrical relationship to the ‘decisive components’ on the part. The two sets of co-operating positioning means may hence be designed and positioned on the first and second apparatus parts, respectively, so that when the co-operating positioning means are joined, a controlled geometrical relationship is obtained between the ‘decisive components’ on the first apparatus part and relevant corresponding features on the second apparatus part. The ‘decisive component’ on the first apparatus part may e.g. be the active area of an LCD, and the corresponding feature on the second apparatus part may e.g. be the display window of a light carrier of a mobile telephone.
The invention utilises distinctive marks added to an apparatus part during its processing, these distinctive marks having ‘microscopic’ tolerances as they are e.g. the results of a semiconductor-like process, to control the positioning of decisive components or other structural elements on the apparatus part relative to corresponding features on another part. Thereby the ‘macroscopic’ positioning of the apparatus part on the body in question is based on the ‘microscopic’ tolerances of the production process of the apparatus part.
An advantage of the method is that the apparatus part provided with distinctive marks to be used in the positioning and mounting of the part on another apparatus part may be produced in one production process (e.g. a semiconductor process or the like) and used as a ‘component’ in a device assembled with another apparatus part in another production process, possibly at different locations. A further advantage of the method is that it is well-suited for automation and hence of course advantageous from a precision and cost perspective, when dealing with large quantities. Since the guiding means ensure a correct position of the first part relatively to the second part, the actual joining of the parts is uncritical, and therefore the parts may alternatively be joined using a manual or
Gary Erika
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
LandOfFree
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