Abstract:
A plated plastic castellated interconnect (20) comprises a substrate (22) made from a molded polymeric material and having top and bottom surfaces (30, 34) with a plurality of separate mutually spaced apart castellations (32) integrally molded to the substrate (22) and projecting from the bottom surface (34) of the substrate (22). A plurality of separate spaced apart recessed regions (40) may be molded in an edge of the substrate (22) and aligned with the castellations (32). A plurality of metal conductors (46) are plated to the substrate (22) as separate conductive circuit traces (48), so that each circuit trace (48) extends continuously from the top surface (30) along the surface of a corresponding recess (40) and to a common plane on a respective castellation (32) at the bottom (34) of the substrate (22). The plated metal castellations are arranged for soldering or gluing to contacts (99) on a printed circuit board (102) for electrical connection to an electrical component such as an IC chip (26) connected to the circuit traces (48) on the substrate (22). The plated plastic castellations on one component provide high lead pitch densities, complex configurations, and compliancy of electrical connections to a second electrical component, as well as other advantages.