Tether and joint design for microcomponents used in microassembly of 3D microstructures

Nikolai Dechev; William L. Cleghorn; James K. Mills

doi:10.1117/12.524685

24 January 2004 Tether and joint design for microcomponents used in microassembly of 3D microstructures

Nikolai Dechev, William L. Cleghorn, James K. Mills

Proceedings Volume 5344, MEMS/MOEMS Components and Their Applications; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.524685
Event: Micromachining and Microfabrication, 2004, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

A novel microassembly system has been developed to assemble surface micromachined micro-parts, into 3D microstructures. This work describes the tether and joint design of micro-parts used in the microassembly process. The process consists of (a) grasping a micro-part which is tethered to the substrate of a chip, (b) removing the micro-part from the substrate by breaking the tethers, (c) manipulating the micro-part from its original location of fabrication to the target assembly location, and (d) joining the micro-part to another micro-part. In this way, out-of-plane or in-plane microstructures can be assembled from a set of initially planar micro-parts. The tether design is an integral part of the grasping and removal process. The tethers provide restraint on the micro-parts while they are grasped by a passive, compliant microgripper, and are designed to break-away at pre-defined locations, after the grasping process. In addition, the tethers ensure that the micro-parts do not translate or rotate from their fabricated and released positions, during transportation of the carrier chip. The joint system used to join micro-parts together is called "snap-lock’ microassembly. It is based on the elastic deflection of a plug feature that forms an interference fit with a mating slot feature.

Citation Download Citation

Nikolai Dechev, William L. Cleghorn, and James K. Mills "Tether and joint design for microcomponents used in microassembly of 3D microstructures", Proc. SPIE 5344, MEMS/MOEMS Components and Their Applications, (24 January 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.524685

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