 Printed circuit boards were originally designed as a replacement for traditional cabling in point-to-point interconnects. The multilayer flexible printed circuit boards offers advantages of increased reliability, greater impendence control, weight and space savings and a reduction in mechanical conductors. Today, in addition to being an effective interconnect, flexible circuits have evolved into an assembly medium for analog and digital devices that can include combinations of multilayer flexible and rigid circuitry.
Multilayer flexible printed circuit boards can be designed to reliably operate millions of flexes without fail and fit into the tight confines that no other interconnection device can. By comparing printed circuit boards to traditional cabling as an interconnection device and considering the aspects of the multilayer flexible printed circuit boards as an assembly medium, its advantages and disadvantages over traditional wiring can be discovered.
Simplifying circuit geometry and placing surface mount devices directly on the circuit can also assist in improving the circuit design. Intricate patterns that would be difficult to build into a rigid board connector pins can easily be designed into the design of a flexible circuit board. Therefore, a much more complex circuit can be achieved in a much tidier space.
As printed circuit boards can be bent, twisted and rolled in order to suit the contour of the equipment application, designers can take advantage of space savings of up to 75%.
The larger surface-to-volume ratio of flexible circuits also allows increased heat dissipation and lighter current capacity. Denser device populations and lighter conductors can be designed into a product, thus freeing up space for additional product features.
Even if the flexible circuit board is used as a flat board, flexible circuit boards save space, with a flexible board being anything up to 58 mils thinner than a rigid board. The raw materials of the flexible circuit board make for a weight saving of up to 70% when compared to the rigid board.
In an age where new products increasingly depend on space and weight saving techniques, more and more products are taking advantage of the printed circuit boards.
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