Keywords: Rigid Flex PCB, Rigid Flexible PCB Manufacturer

In large part, the prevalence of flexible printed circuit board technology has seen a considerable surge in recent years due to its benefits in the growing fields of personal medical electronics, complex as well as High-Density Interconnect (HDI) devices, and wearable electronics. When it comes to trends in the PCB industry, Companies ensure to stay ahead of the curve and the information they need to do the same is produced for their clients. This article will offer a vast knowledge of PCB Assembly and Rigid Flex PCB Fabrication.

First, to cover the basics: a Rigid-Flex PCB describes other standard PCB Laminate Material or a standard rigid board of FR-4. To a flexible and thin PCB of R-F775 material, it is attached during the PCB Assembly Process. To connect the main rigid PCB to other rigid daughter boards, this flexible portion can be used during the PCB Assembly Process. It also connects to another device entirely to satisfy shape or space constraints, or sometimes post-production simply

A patterned arrangement of components and printed circuits that make use of flexible base material without or with a flexible cover layer is FPC or Flex PCB. Without damaging the wire, it can withstand millions of dynamic bending, and be folded, wound, and bent freely.

Making it possible to expand or move in three-dimensional space and fit the desired applicable shape, Flex PCB offers freedom of design. Smaller space and Lighter weight are offered by the high electrical connection and compact nature density of Flex PCB compared to the traditional rigid PCB. Its benefits can be briefed as follows:

• Lightweight and Small size
• Easily flexible and Bendable
• High reliability
• The high density of the circuit

Applications of Flex PCB

In high-precision electronic products such as military and aerospace, Flex PCB was initially used when first developed in the 1960s. It began to be applied in civilian products after the end of the Cold War. Driven by the development of Flex PCB technology, the application of Flex PCB has been fully expanded entering the 21st century. The trend of final products' thinness and lightness has also expanded.

The need for Flex PCB has immensely grown as the electronics products bring greater functionality while coming in lighter and smaller sizes. The Flex PCB qualities meet the trend of portable, miniaturized, and multifunctional electronics. Therefore, it is widely used in consumer electronics, peripheral products, PC medical equipment, automotive electronics, communication products, etc. The applications of Flex PCB from a Rigid Flexible PCB Manufacturer in the automotive electronics, wearable devices, and smartphones industry are being discussed here.

Automotive electronics

The mainstream for the future development of the automotive industry is new energy vehicles. In connection to a traditional line carrier, automotive wiring harnesses are complicated and heavy relatively. For new energy vehicles, this cannot comply with the continuously increasing quantities of electronic components. However, while being able to withstand millions of dynamic bending without damaging the wire, Flex PCB offers freedom of designing. For wire harnesses, it makes an ideal replacement. For automotive electronic components, Flex PCB has durability, heat resistance, and high-reliability characteristics suitable in harsh environments. For gearboxes, LED car lights, entertainment systems, BMS, sensors, navigation, car display, and other car devices, it is now used in the new energy vehicles.

The potential of automotive electronics has become increasingly apparent with the continued development and innovation of sensor technology. The impetus for the Flex PCB market is expected to become an important growth.

Medical wearable devices

To collect all varieties of physiological data for personal health and diagnosis use, Medical wearable devices are used. They need to be unobtrusive and comfortable attaching directly to the people, which requires a compact package and very dense layouts of the products. Due to its high circuit density and flexibility characteristics, Flex PCB enables many medical devices are enabled to become lighter, smarter, and smaller. Thus wearable monitoring devices, hearing-assist devices, wristwatches, etc, are used widely.

The potential of wearable electronic devices has been highlighted in the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted in healthcare. They enable continuous monitoring of physiological signals. In the early detection of pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, they can be used. The demand for Flex PCB continues to grow with such devices increasing in complexity but becoming smaller.

Smartphones

OLED display

As part of the signal connection, Flex PCB is mainly used for hinge, rotating, and folding parts in smartphones. The OLED display is one of the typical applications. The OLED display is a new generation of display screens and is referred to as Organic Light Emitting Diode. Flexible screens are bendable, lighter, and thinner. They are rich in colors and of low power consumption as compared with traditional display screens. In new-generation electronic products such as wearable devices, foldable phones, and curved displays, are used widely. For electronic products using flexible screens for their bendable, thin, and light characteristics, Flex PCB is more suitable.

Multi-functions of smartphones

Mobile phone brands continue to enrich and innovate product functions to stimulate consumers' purchase willingness and seize market share resulting in a higher demand for PCBs especially flex PCBs. For batteries, LCD modules, LCD panels, buttons, and camera modules in mobile phones, Flex PCB is used at first. New applications of face recognition and fingerprint modules are brought by the introduction of biometrics technology followed by other innovative functions and multiple cameras. Thus, to support the increasing features in volumetrically limited spaces, more electronics components are needed which drives rigid PCB to be replaced by Flex PCB.

The Flex PCB use increases as smartphones continue to evolve with more advanced features. For example, the applications of the antenna, power cord, flashlight, speaker, vibrator, camera, side button, motherboard, 3D Sensing, HOME button, touch and display module, independent backlight, SIM card holder, headphone, and microphone jack have been covered by Flex PCB in the iPhone series.

Conclusion

A key trend of future electronics is Miniaturization. Electronics become lighter, thinner, and smaller for their flexing property with the help of Flex PCB. With the increasing demand for automotive electronics, wearable devices, and consumer electronics, the growth of Flex PCB has primarily been driven. A higher requirement on Rigid Flex PCB technology and quality is being imposed by the rapid development of such electronics.