Revolutionizing Connectivity: The Benefits And Applications Of Flexible Printed Circuits

By Author: Ryan
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Flexible printed circuits have their origin in being a substitute for conventional wire harnesses. Modern trends such as IoT, connectivity, mobility, wearable devices, downsizing, and others have boosted the demand for and usage of Flex printed circuits interlinked with almost all industries. In its basic characterization, a flexible circuit is a large collection of conductors between two layers of extremely thin insulation.


Flexible circuit boards are useful in situations where reduced size and mass of the printed circuits and high density of the circuitry are desirable. Flexible PCBs are best suited for three-dimensional wiring circuits and are designed to fit into more crowded areas of equipment because, in an attempt to achieve functionality from equipment at lesser costs, firms have sought a more compact way of conducting circuits. Further, flexible printed circuits allow a superior heat sink than a normal printed circuit board as it improves the overall reliability and functionality of the electronics it serves.


Flexible printed circuit boards are especially useful in any type of application ...
... regardless of their simplicity or complexity. Flexible Circuit Technologies is ready and willing to accept almost any flexible circuit design assignment that you may have for us.


Benefits include:


• Reduced wiring errors.

• Use of mechanical connectors has been discredited and thus its elimination.

• The kind of design flexibility that has no match.

• Higher circuit density.

• Operating temperature range of higher strength.

• Stronger signal quality.

• Higher reliability with enhanced control over the products’ impedance levels.

• Size and weight reduction.


Assembly Error Reduction – Due to the use of accurate designs and application of fully automated machines in flex circuit manufacturing, it is impossible to compare the hand build wire harnesses with the flex circuits regarding the issues of errors. Interconnections are made to those points specified in the schematic, netlist, or the Gerber files.


Shorter Time to Assemble and Cheaper to Make – assembly of Flex circuits is less time-consuming compared to conventional techniques and has little chance of getting it wrong. The mere nature of flex circuits is one that inherently contains the attributes of form, fit, and function. Flex circuits make it easier to eliminate the high costs associated with routing, wrapping, and soldering of wires. Circuit problems are eradicated and as an outcome, the production costs decrease. It does not matter if it is low low-volume circuit that will have many connections or a high-volume circuit with fewer connections, the time and cost of assembly are reduced.


There is no limitation to movement in two planes as flex circuits make no limitations. Flexible circuit design can go on forever because flexible circuits are as flexible as conductor wires or ribbon cables. At EFPCB, we love to solve the toughest design problems in the industry today. Standard and flexible circuits are capable of delivering unimaginable and highly complicated configurations to operate in the most exhaustive hostile environment.


• Highly complex configurations.

• Survive in hostile shock and vibration conditions.

• Complex interconnections.

• Shielding.

• Single layer, multilayer, and capabilities of Rigid/flex.

• Surface-mounted devices.


Conversion to flex also prevents wiring mistakes originating from handmade connections and equally cuts down the time taken to assemble wires.


During installation – Flexible circuits have an edges dimension to work with because they can also interconnect two or more planes when formed. Thus, they address space and weight issues incomparable to rigid boards. Installation and servicing of flex circuits can be done many times without affecting the electronics of the act.


Higher Density – Flexible circuits feature the capability of having fine lines and spaces to accommodate high-density devices. In net reduction, a greater number of devices can be packed into a product, and lighter conductors designed into a product can leave more room for other product features.


Convection and More Airflow – With flexible circuits implemented into an electronic application, air used in cooling can flow through the application much easier due to the designs of the circuits.


Better heat dissipation – linked to the fact that copper traces provide a greater surface area to volume ratio and the electrical dielectric layer is micro-thin, the heat produced in the copper traces is easily dissipated. Moreover, the application of flex circuits opens up heat dissipation by both surfaces of the circuit since the design of flex circuits is inevitably thinner.


Higher System Stability – Over the years, most circuit failures took place at an interconnection point. In its simplest form, a FLEX circuit can be planned in such a way that there are very limited interconnections to other circuits hence making the circuit very reliable.


Point-to-Point Wire Replacement – Some circuit designs might have a large number of point-to-point connections, and at Flexible Circuit Technologies it is possible to design a single flex circuit to replace many if not all of those connections.


Reliability and durability- A properly designed dynamic flexible circuit usually withstands a motion and flexural test, which exceeds 1,000,000 cycles without suffering any breakdowns.


Repeatable Routings – Our circuits are produced from duplicate copies of artwork to ensure better manufacturing quality. The etched circuits supersede the solder and hand-wiring connections of the rigid board, thereby eradicating wiring mistakes.


Transparent Circuit Design – As for Flexible Circuit Technologies, the electronics-mounting approach involves placing them directly on the surface of the circuit, and this has made the entire production process less complicated. Customers can obtain all the components needed for a flexible circuit and it can be fully assembled for him or her.


Package Size and Weight Reduction: By using thicker dielectric cores in rigid boards, designers can achieve more weight and size. Flex circuits are some of the slimmest with the thinnest dielectric substrates out in the market. Slimness is comprehensible since it makes it possible to dispense with large rigid boards at the same time. It also results in overall package size versatility. Other than shrinking package size, the weight of the package is also made lighter. As consumer demands continue to rise within electronics industries, weight and volume concerns make flex circuits a popular interconnect solution.


What Makes Flexible Circuits Different From Printed Circuits?


Comparing Flex printed circuits with the traditional printed circuit boards, there are some main distinctions. Both devices perform the same electrical tasks, but the mechanisms and build are different. The first one is that the flexible printed circuits are bendable or rather twistable. This difference in usability and strength requires dissimilar processes of production, materials, and design for each type.


Since PCBs do not demand flexibility, they mainly focus on thermal and chemical characteristics connected with adhesives. On the other hand, flexible printed circuits have to bend so the adhesives need to be flexible and elastic. As a result, adhesives for flexible circuits should possess different characteristics of thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties than those for rigid PCBs.


The first layer of a printed circuit board is fundamental and generally needs to be supported with glass fiber. In this case, the one that is the most commonly used to make it is a class of flame retardant material made of epoxy resin and a glass fabric. The substance used provides vital support along with good mechanical and thermal endurance. But it is hard and cannot be bent. On the other side, polyimide is used mainly as the base material of flexible circuits. This material has good characteristics since it has flexibility but it cannot give mechanical strength. However, this same property is not as forgiving as one might see in some other composites in terms of dimensional stability.

High Quality PCB Co., Limited is a leading PCB(Printed Circuit Board) Manufacturer in China since 1995. Dedicated to the technologies innovation, being engaged in IC Substrates, High-Density Interconnect PCB, Multi-layer PCB, Rigid Flexible PCB, Flexible, Radiofrequency PCB.