What Is a Flexible Circuit Board?

Flexible circuit boards are favored for their light weight, thin thickness, and flexibility to bend and fold. With the rapid development of the electronics industry, the design of circuit boards is becoming more and more high-precision and high-density. Traditional manual inspection methods can no longer meet the production needs. FPC defect automatic detection has become an inevitable trend of industrial development.

Flexible circuit (FPC) is a technology developed by the United States for the development of space rocket technology in the 1970s. It is made of polyester film or polyimide as a substrate with high reliability and excellent flexibility. By embedding a circuit design on a flexible thin plastic sheet, a large number of precision components are stacked in a narrow and limited space to form a flexible circuit. This kind of circuit can be bent at will, folded, light weight, small size, good heat dissipation, easy installation, and breaks through the traditional interconnection technology. In the structure of the flexible circuit, the materials are insulating film, conductor and adhesive.

Pros and cons of flexible circuit board

The advantages of multi-layer circuit boards: high assembly density, small size, and light weight. Because of high-density assembly, the connection between components (including parts) is reduced, thereby increasing reliability; it can increase the wiring layer, and then increase the design flexibility; The impedance of the circuit can also be formed, and a certain high-speed transmission circuit can be formed. The circuit and electromagnetic shielding layer can be set. The metal core layer can also be installed to meet the functions and requirements of special thermal insulation. It is easy to install and has high reliability.

Disadvantages of multi-layer pcb boards (unqualified): high cost, long cycle; high reliability inspection methods are required. Multilayer printed circuit is the product of electronic technology, multi-function, high speed, small volume and large capacity. With the development of electronic technology, especially the wide application of large-scale and very large-scale integrated circuits, the high-speed, high-precision, high-number, high-density multi-layer printed circuit has fine lines in the direction of change.

Characteristic of flexible circuit board

1. Short: short assembly hours

All lines are configured, eliminating the need to connect extra cables

2. Small: smaller than PCB

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: thickness is thinner than PCB

Can improve flexibility, strengthen the assembly of three-dimensional space in a limited space

The above information is provided by PCB supplier.