 flexible printed circuit boards
Flexible printed circuit boards, or PCBs, are used to mechanically support and electronically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, or traces, etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate.
Flexible printed circuit boards are rugged, inexpensive and highly reliable. They require much more layout effort and higher initial cost than either wire-wrapped or point-to-point constructed circuits, but are much cheaper, faster and consistent in high volume production.
Flexible electronics is a technology for building electronic circuits by depositing electronic devices on flexible substrates such as plastic. In the simplest of cases, flexible electronics can be made by using the same components used for rigid circuit boards.
The main difference between a rigid circuit board and a flexible printed circuit is the substrate, which is flexible rather than rigid. Typically, to make LCDs, glass is used as a substrate, whereas if a flexible plastic was used as the substrate, the system could be flexible.
The flexible circuit has recently come of age as an interconnection device, although it was originally developed over twenty years ago. Designers of everything from car stereos and cameras to pacemakers and disk drives have all reaped the benefits of using the flexible printed circuit.
Alternative names for the flexible printed circuit are printed wiring board (PWB) or etched wiring board. After populating the board with electronic components, a printed circuit assembly (PCA) is formed.
As more and more technological advances are made, new products require more compact packaging, minutely defined electronic impedances and an error-free performance. Flexible circuitry offers engineers ways to miniaturise circuits, increase functional capacity and improve reliability.
Flexible printed circuit boards were initially designed as a replacement for bulky wire harnesses. Simple circuit designs helped to solve space and weight problems that could not be resolved using traditional wiring methods.
In addition to being flexible, flexible printed circuit boards can also be designed to meet highly complex specialist configurations. An advantage of this system is that it can withstand many hostile operating environments.
In an age where new products increasingly depend on space and weight saving techniques, more and more products are taking advantage of the flexible printed circuit.
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