Rigid Flex PCB – How It Is Produced And Why Is It Important For Various Applications?
A rigid flex PCB or a rigid flexible PCB is a circuit board that is flexible and permanently fixed in a given space. How is this better? Well, it allows you to design and fabricate the circuit according to the device and no the other way around. Previously, industries and developers had to design the device according to the specific circuitry it was to contain. Rigid flex PCBs are used in a variety of applications including aerospace, military, and medical.
These circuit boards can be bent and fitted into a small space; hence, the intended devices and equipment can be scaled down in size and this saves up on the weight and the manufacturing costs involved. There are many advantages of these cheap custom PCBs.
- Rigid flex PCBs are easy to install.
- They can be designed without any restrictions.
- They do not take up much space.
- These circuits have the ability to maintain constant electrical characteristics.
- Due to their flexibility, the final cost of the product is significantly reduced.
- The fact that the weight is reduced and they are adaptable, allows the packaging requirements to be lowered.
- There are no interface connections; hence, this increases the circuit’s reliability and decreases the sources of failure.
- They exhibit a better performance because of their ductility and reduced mass.
- These circuit boards can withstand vibrations and the impact of shocks.
- Flexible PCBs consist of materials that have superior thermal characteristics; hence, they can tolerate a great amount of heat.
- Unlike conventional circuit boards, flexible PCBs have an enhanced base for the purposes of surface mounting.
- They do not have high assembly costs associated with them and have lowered packaging requirements for their cheap pcb assembly.
- No presence of errors during wiring routing; therefore, it saves up on the test time and reduces the need for PCB reworks.
- They dissipate heat at far greater rate than traditional boards, due to their excellent dielectric materials.
- They exhibit a high resistance to oils, chemicals, acids, gases, radiation, and UV rays.
- Allows you to have a better control over impedances because of their ability to function well in high speed impedance applications.
- It consists of films to protect against EMI, silver inks, and copper layers.
- Flexible circuits accept connectors that need to be assembled onto rigid designs.
- It gives access to simplified modules to serve as interfaces.
How are they Manufactured?
Rigid flex PCBs are manufactured using a simple process:
Preparing the materials: In order to ensure that the film adhesive is properly applied, the production panels are cleaned with a chemical in a thorough manner.
The transference of the circuit image: The circuit image is superimposed onto a production panel by exposing ultraviolet radiation to the photo resistive panels.
The Etching process: The pattern of the circuits is etched chemically by utilizing a conveyor system. This system can handle thin cores with great ease.
The Drilling process: A high speed, excellent precision drill is used to create small holes in the production panels.
Copper plating the circuit: An automated copper plating system is utilized to coat the holes with copper to form layer by layer electrical interconnects.
Application and lamination of the overlay: First, the overlays are aligned and positioned onto the production panel and then they are laminated in a vacuum. This is carried out to allow for a better adhesion to the surface.
The Stiffener is applied: The overlays are further laminated, but before doing so, a number of stiffeners are applied under a vacuum.
Testing and fabrication: The rigid flex PCBs are tested for electrical isolation and continuity, and then they are fabricated by die-cutting them from the production panel. This is done using a high precision punch and die set.