User Manual

Page 10
TOP ELECTRODE
BOTTOM ELECTRODE
AA
CROSS SECTION A-A
PLATED THROUGH HOLE
P.C.B
TRACE ON P.C.B
A
A
PIEZO FILM
OR FLEX CIRCUIT
PLATED THROUGH HOLE
Figure 5.
PIEZO FILM
P.C.B.
P.C.B. TRACE
TOP ELECTRODE
WASHER
BOLT
BOTTOM ELECTRODE
P.C.B.
PLATED THROUGH HOLE
TOP ELECTRODE
P.C.B. TRACE
DT PATTERN BOLTED TO P.C.B
Figure 6.
CRIMP CONNECTOR
PROTECTIVE COAT
PIEZO FILM
POLYESTER REINFORCEMENT
AA
DT PATTERN WITH CRIMP CONNECTOR
Figure 7.
! To affix the piezo film directly to a
PCB, small "POP" or "blind" rivets
or eyelets can be used in
conjunction with patterned film
electrodes and the conductive tracks
on the PCB to allow a single
operation to form the
interconnection. During screen
printing of conductive ink
electrodes, a small “plated through
hole” can be formed in one of the
off-set tabs, thereby bringing both
conductors to the same side of the
piezo film. This greatly facilitates
riveting the film electrode tabs to
the corresponding PCB traces. If
the “plated through hole” technique
is not used, then the top film electrode can be electrically connected by the rivet to a conductive
trace on the underside of the PCB.
The bottom film electrode is
electrically connected to a
corresponding trace on the top of
the PCB and held in intimate
contact by the pressure exerted by
the rivet.
! Nuts and bolts - Wires terminated
with washers, ring-tongue lugs,
solder-tags, etc. can easily be
incorporated with small nuts and
bolts.
! Crimp Connectors — generally,
crimps designed for flexible circuit
technology work well with piezo
film elements. Crimps can have
solder tabs for affixing wires, or the
crimp ends can be inserted into
corresponding holes in a PCB and soldered to the underside of the PCB (maximum of a few
second soldering time so as not to overheat the film).
Like the eyelets mentioned above,
crimps are normally designed to
work with a specified thickness of
"substrate," so film may require
"padding" on one side (i.e.,
polyester reinforcement) to
accommodate the crimp
connectors. Additionally, a
complete multi-way connector may
be crimped to a more complex
device, giving straight plug-in
compatibility with other
connectors.