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Method for making a flexible flat cableRelated Patent Categories: Electrical Connectors, Preformed Panel Circuit Arrangement, E.g., Pcb, Icm, Dip, Chip, Wafer, Etc., With Provision To Conduct Electricity From Panel Circuit To Another Panel Circuit, Flexible PanelMethod for making a flexible flat cable description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060089012, Method for making a flexible flat cable. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/721,168, filed on Nov. 26, 2003, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/497,563 filed Aug. 26, 2003, the subject matter of both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. FIELD OF INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to a flexible flat cable for use in a clockspring, the flat cable having conductors printed onto a base insulating layer and being directly terminated at a surface mount header located in a clockspring connection module. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] A majority of automobiles today utilize airbag crash systems. An airbag is typically located on the steering wheel facing the driver and must be in continuous electrical connection with sensors in the car body. The sensors provide an electrical signal to the airbag crash assembly which instantly inflates the airbag in the event of a crash. Clocksprings are found in virtually every vehicle to electrically connect rotating devices in the steering column to stationary components in other parts of the vehicle. [0004] There are generally two types of clocksprings designs, the coil and the "loop-back" design. In the coil design, long lengths of flat cable (typically 6 to 13 feet) are wrapped around a central hub of a clockspring, in a coil-type fashion. In a loop-back design, a roller and carrier mechanism loop a flat cable (typically 2 to 3 feet) back onto itself inside the clockspring. [0005] In both types of clocksprings, the flat cable comprises a series of parallel conductors sandwiched between two insulating layers of plastic or similar material. The flat cable is terminated by welding the flat cable's conductors to a rigid circuit board or overmolded metallic insert grid. [0006] FIGS. 1A-1C show a prior art flat cable 10 and flat cable termination structure. FIG. 1A shows a rigid circuit board 11 having ten (10) contacts 12 thereon. The contacts 12 are connected to metal conductors 14 traced onto the circuit board 10, which eventually form metal leads 16. [0007] FIGS. 1B and 1C show a top and perspective view, respectively, of the flat cable 10 welded to the metal leads 16. The flat cable 10 is generally formed by sandwiching a series of conductors 20 between two insulating layers of plastic or similar material. The insulating layers in FIGS. 1B and 1C are transparent so that the cable conductors 20 can be seen. The insulating layers have an adhesive bonding agent on their interior sides which bond to each other and the cable conductors 20. The ends of the flat cable 10 are stripped to expose the cable conductors 20 therein, which are then welded to the metal leads 16. [0008] The flat cable and flat cable termination structure of the prior art suffers from the disadvantage that it requires the cable conductors 20 and the metal leads 16 to be spaced apart a certain pitch, resulting in larger clocksprings. Additionally, the cable conductors 20 are attached to the contacts 12 via the circuit board 11, adding a structural component between the flat cable 10 and the contacts 12. [0009] In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a flexible flat cable for a clockspring having conductors "printed" or "screened" onto a flat cable in order to increase the conductor density (i.e. the amount of conductors in a given space) of the cable. It would further be advantageous to provide a flat cable termination structure which eliminated the circuit board, and directly connected the conductors of the flat cable to the contacts of a connector, thereby eliminating the need for a circuit board or other intermediary connecting device. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] The present invention is directed towards a method of making a flexible flat cable of a vehicular clockspring whose conductors are directly attached to the contacts of a mounting header. The flat cable comprises a series of conductors located between a pair of insulating layers, with the conductors "printed" or "screened" onto one of the insulating layers. [0011] The ends of the cable are terminated at a mounting header having contacts thereon. The mounting header is incorporated into a connection module for the clockspring so that the contacts serve as the male ends of the connection module. Other devices or cables which connect to the clockspring can than be quickly mated to the connection module, via a corresponding female connector. This method of termination is in contrast to prior art clockspring cables which typically weld their cable conductors to rigid printed circuit boards or overmolded metallic insert grids. [0012] The flexible flat cable of the present invention improves upon the prior art by printing or screening the conductors onto the flat cable, which allows for greater conductor density. In this manner, same-size cables are able to carry larger amounts of data or similarly, the same amount of data can be carried in smaller cables. [0013] Additionally, the present invention eliminates the use of the printed circuit board and insert grid by directly attaching the conductors of the cable to the male contacts in the mounting header. This increases the reliability of the clockspring by eliminating interconnects, and decreases the cost of manufacturing the clockspring by reducing the number of components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0014] FIG. 1A shows a top view of a prior art circuit board used in a clockspring; [0015] FIG. 1B shows a top view of a prior art flat cable attached to the circuit board of FIG. 1A; [0016] FIG. 1C shows a perspective view of the prior art flat cable and circuit board of FIG. 1B; [0017] FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of a clockspring using the flexible flat cable of the present invention; [0018] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of one end of the flexible flat cable of the present invention; [0019] FIG. 4 shows a top view of the flexible flat cable of the present invention; Continue reading about Method for making a flexible flat cable... Full patent description for Method for making a flexible flat cable Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Method for making a flexible flat cable patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Method for making a flexible flat cable or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Low-profile, high speed, board-to-board connector system Next Patent Application: Integrated circuit testing device Industry Class: Electrical connectors ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Method for making a flexible flat cable patent info. 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