Previous in Forum: Challenging the gurus/enthused purist. bridging the limits?   Next in Forum: PTC Thermistor for motor temperature
Close
Close
Close
6 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
Participant

Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Folsom CA
Posts: 1

Rigid Flex Circuit Feasiblity

08/15/2007 12:05 AM

I want to design a rigid flex circuit. The flexible parts serve as service loops to panel-mount connectors that are above and below the printed circuit board, PCB. The connectors will be lined up directly above and below each other. Is it possible to build two separate layers of flexible circuits coming out of the PCB? Paul

Register to Reply
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Old New Member

Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: South east U.K.
Posts: 3695
Good Answers: 93
#1

Re: Rigid Flex Circuit Feasiblity

08/16/2007 4:13 AM

Making a flexible PCB with a rigid area is no problem, this can have as many flexible arms as you like. Talk to your local manufacturer.

__________________
I didn't have a really important life, but at least it's been funny (Lemmy Kilminster 1945-2015)
Register to Reply
Anonymous Poster
#2

Re: Rigid Flex Circuit Feasiblity

08/16/2007 7:34 AM

Being someone that used to work for a very large PCB manufacturer, I would say it can and has been done. But, usually adding more layers of conductors are more effective. 32 layer and higher PCB's are commonplace and will be much more cost effective than adding flex. Also layering boards as you have proposed can reduce convective cooling of components on the boards which is highlu undesirable.

Register to Reply
Guru
Hobbies - Fishing - New Member

Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 867
Good Answers: 11
#3

Re: Rigid Flex Circuit Feasiblity

08/16/2007 7:36 AM

This is possible even with multiple layers, but the more the layers the more complicated the part layout becomes and the smaller the parts need to be. The rigid part is no problem either.

__________________
Eric
Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Wisconsin USA
Posts: 824
Good Answers: 37
#4

Re: Rigid Flex Circuit Feasiblity

08/16/2007 12:25 PM

The flexible parts serve as service loops to panel-mount connectors that are above and below the printed circuit board, PCB. The connectors will be lined up directly above and below each other. Can the flex portions be made sort of "L" shaped, so that the connector-attach areas are parallel to the rigid PCB's edge, but nearer & farther away [prior to flexing]? The regions where they exit the rigid board will be offset from one another. Then one layer can feed aligned parts.

__________________
" Ignorance and arrogance have more in common than their last four letters. "
Register to Reply
Anonymous Poster
#5

Re: Rigid Flex Circuit Feasiblity

08/16/2007 8:55 PM

Paul,

Please look at our website -- www.fit4flex.com

It will show you all the capabilities of flex circuits.

Send us the drawing so that we can review it for manufacturability.

Send it to -- sales@fit4flex.com or sue@fit4flex.com

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks,

Sue

408-635-3544

Register to Reply
Participant

Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1
#6

Re: Rigid Flex Circuit Feasiblity

08/17/2007 11:24 AM

Certainly, there are a few ways to design and manufacture a solution for your application. The more details you can provide, the better, faster, lower cost solutions can be brought forward. Flex and rigid-flex circuits are greatly underutilized in the electronics industry due to the lack of familiarity with design guidelines by Design Engineers and some fear of the unknown. You can contact others on this blog or myself and we can walk you through design options, manufacturing options and pricing.

Regards- Shawn

Register to Reply
Register to Reply 6 comments
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Poster (2); ca1ic0cat (1); Nigh (1); Ron (1); sxarnold (1)

Previous in Forum: Challenging the gurus/enthused purist. bridging the limits?   Next in Forum: PTC Thermistor for motor temperature

Advertisement