CharacteristICs, advantages and disadvantages of flexible circuit board

PCB manufacturers, PCB designers and PCBA manufacturers explain the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of flexible PCB

Flexible printed circuit (FPC), also known as Flexible circuit board; It is short, SMAll, light and thin; It has the characteristics of high assembly density and small volume; There are high cost, long cycle, complex inspection methods, etc.

characteristic

1. Short: short assembly time All lines are configured and redundant cables are not connected

2. Small: smaller than PCB, which can effectively reduce the product volume and increase the convenience of carrying

3. Light: lighter than PCB (hard board) can reduce the weight of the final product

4. Thin: The thickness is thinner than that of PCB, which can improve the flexibility. Strengthen the assembly of three-dimensional space in limited space

advantage

Flexible circuit board is a printed circuit made of flexible insulating substrate, which has many advantages that hard printed circuit board does not have:

1. It can bend, wind and fold freely, can be arranged arbitrarily according to the space layout requirements, and can move and expand freely in three-dimensional space, so as to achieve the integration of component assembly and wire connection;

   
   

2. Flexible circuit board can greatly reduce the volume and weight of electronic products, which is suitable for the development of electronic products in the direction of high-density, miniaturization and high reliability. Therefore, FPC has been widely used in aerOSPace, military, mobile communications, laptops, computer peripherals, PDAs, digital CAMeras and other fields or products;

3. Flexible circuit board also has the advantages of good heat dissipation and solderability, easy assembly and connection, low comprehensive cost, etc. The design of soft hard combination also makes up for the slight shortage of flexible substrate in component bearing capacity to a certain extent.

shortcoming

1. High one-time initial cost: Since the flexible circuit board is designed and manufactured for special applications, the initial cost of circuit design, wiring and photographic plate is high. Unless the flexible circuit board is used for special needs, it is better not to use it for a small amount of applications;

   
   

2. It is difficult to change and repair the flexible PCB: once the flexible PCB is made, the change must start from the base drawing or the prepared photo program, so it is not easy to change. Its surface is covered with a layer of protective film, which shall be removed before repair and restored after repair, which is a relatively difficult work;

3. Size limitation: flexible circuit boards are usually manufactured by batch process when they are not popular, so they cannot be made very long or wide due to the size limitation of production equipment;

4. Improper operation is easy to damage: improper operation of the assembly and connection personnel is easy to cause damage to the soft circuit, and its soldering and rework require trained personnel to operate. PCB manufacturers, PCB designers and PCBA manufacturers will explain the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of flexible PCB