What is Printed Circuit Board?
Printed Circuit Board also in short known as PCB serves as the base for almost all the
electronics for both - wiring area & the physical support piece. The
material used for making PCBS are mainly fiberglass, composite epoxy, or any
other material which is composite by nature. PCB is the interconnection between
the electrical & electronic components which can be easily found in radios,
radar, beepers, pagers & computer systems.
PCB
assembly is mainly
constructed in three different ways- singled sided, double sided &
multi-layered. With the help of two methods the components on a PCB are
electrically connected- surface mount & hole technology respectively. To
elaborate surface mount technology, it can be explained that the L-shaped or
J-shaped terminals of each of the component gets in contact with the PCB. And
in the hole technology, each component has thin leads, theses leads are pressed
with the help of tiny holes & then soldering process is carried out, the
connection boards are soldered on the other side.
Different Types of PCBs
PCBs consists of copper tracks & these are connected to the holes where the other different components are located. The PCB design for each device is designed as per the need of the device. For each & every circuit, a special design is done & the construction building is quite easy. But, you need special tools needed for PCB. PCBs also have different types, let’s check that below:
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1. Single Sided PCBs
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This is the most
basic type. As the name goes, this circuit board contains only a single layer
of base material or substrate. With the help of thin metal it is nicely
covered. This layer of metal can be copper as it is one of the good conductor
of electricity, so in most of the devices you will find the copper layer
coating. On the top layer of copper coating, a protective solder mask is
applied with a coating of silk screen. The silk screen coating is done mainly
to mark the main elements on the board. Let’s go through some of the benefits
of this kind of PCBs:
·
These
PCBs are used when the volume of production is high & cost is comparatively
low;
·
And,
these PCBs are used for simple circuit boards like relays, calculators, sensors,
cameras, power sensors & electronic toys;
· They are very easy to manufacture & design;
1. 2. Double-Sided
PCBs
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In this type of PCBs, both sides of the
substrate are layer with a metal coating with elements also being attached to
both sides. There are tiny holes in the circuit board, this holes helps in
keeping the parts of the metals attached with each other. With the help of
surface-mount technology &through-hole technology, the PCBs connects the
circuits from one side to the other.
Both the techniques are different in
terms of usage- Through-Hole Technology is inserting lead components in the
drilled holes on the circuit board & every end is soldered to the worthy
component. Whereas, in the Surface Mount technology, the electrical components
are placed directly on the surface of the circuit boards, this means many
circuits can be completed using the lesser space on the board, so the board
executes more functions, & is faster in speed with being lesser in weight.
The benefits of the double sided PCBs are as below:
·
When the surface
mounting technology is used, its allows attachment of more circuits to the
board;
· And these types of PCBs are used in many varieties of applications like power monitoring, mobile phone system, amplifiers, test equipment & more.
1. 3. Multilayer
PCBs
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This type of PCBs comprises of two
layers of copper such as 4L, 6L, 8L, etc. & this complexes & expands
the density of the PCBs designs. The technology used in the double sided PCBs
is further expanded here. Many different layers of insulating materials & substrate
helps in separating the layers in this type of PCBs. Generally, these PCBs are
compact, & weigh light & space used is less. The usage of the extra
layers is known as power planes, which not only helps in providing supply of
power to the circuit but also reduces the electromagnetic interference level
emitted by the designs. The advantages of this type of PCBs are:
·
These type of PCBs
include quite a high level of flexibility in the design;
·
And the circuits used
are high speed, these type of PCBs serve the best as they can provide huge
space for power & conductor pattern;
1. 4. Rigid
PCBs
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This type of PCBs cannot be twisted or
bent and are formed with a solid substrate material. This is mostly used in the
motherboard. The largest number of PCBs that are manufactured make up the rigid
PCBs. So, the Rigid PCBs can either be a single layer PCB or seven or ten
layered multi PCB. Generally, a solid material like fiberglass is used which
helps from twisting or bending. Some of the advantages of the PCBs are:
·
These kind of PCBs can be
maintained & repaired easily because all the components here are marked
clearly. In addition to this, the signal paths are also organised very well;
·
And you can also create
different variety of circuitry around it as this PCBs is quite compact;
5. Flexible
PCBs
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These type of PCBs are generally
constructed on a flexible material like a flexible plastic or a flexible board.
But the cost of this kind of PCBs is more comparatively as they are printed on
the material which is flexible. The flexible PCBs are very flexible & can
be turned & twisted around the corners also. But this flexibility can be
costly & also weigh more as to cover the multiple rigid areas, a single
flexible PCB is used.
The areas which are more environmentally
hazardous, flexible PCBs can be used. The materials used should be shockproof,
waterproof, resistant to high oil temperatures & corrosion resistant. The
benefits of the same are:
·
The board size is
decreased when you use flexible PCB, this is ideal for applications that needs
high signal trace density;
·
Less space is used,
which also reduces the weight of the board;
·
The places where the
density & temperatures is an issue, this types of PCBs are best one;
6. Rigid-Flex
PCBs
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The Rigid-flex PCBs is the
combination of the above two i.e. flexible & rigid circuit boards. Here the
multiple layers of Flex PCBs are connected the many rigid PCBs layers. You will
come across this type of PCBS in the applications where the weight & space
are considered important like pacemakers, automobiles, cell phones &
digital cameras. The benefits of the rigid-flex PCBs are as below:
·
They are
quite light weight & helps in offering 60% savings of the space &
weight;
·
This type
of PCBs is quite accurate & are used in military & medical applications;
To conclude, it can be said that the demand for PCBs is increasing in all the major industrial sectors.Today, the branded PCB manufacturers in India make sure to cater the competitive market of devices. And, so it is even suggestible to purchases the PCBs for commercial & industrial use from any reputed &knownPCB suppliers.
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