Processing Flow of Printed Circuit Board

A printed circuit board technically known as PCB is an essential yet hidden part of most electronic products. I called it hidden because I have never seen ‘a green colored board having wires connected through small fuses making it complicated to understand which wire is going where’ is placed beside my TV and acts as its heart. In fact, it is properly fitted inside almost everything which runs on electricity such as TV, radio, computer even the storage pen drives we use have the tiny form of PCBs and yes they are the heart of electric devices and gadgets.

A PCB is made of a material that is non-conductive with having conductive lines engraved on it by following etching or printing method. Essential electronic components such as batteries, resisters and transistors are mounted on the board on the conductive lines to get connected with each other which in result forms a working circuit board. A majority of such boards are processed in Honk Kong using the best board process technology to make best quality PCBs.

The process of making a fine PCB consists of different stages but before that let’s discuss the required tools and things used during processing which are as follows.

• All essential electronic components such as batteries, wires, Capacitators, indictors, LEDs, switches etc.

• All soldering materials such as solder paste, solder wire, solder performs, solder bar and of course a solder.

• Soldering equipments like wave soldering machine, soldering station, SMT equipment and testing equipment.

Once all the required tools and components are ready, the assembly process starts and the stages are as follows.

The initial stage is forming a layout of desired circuit board which requires software specifically a circuit board layout editor. Editors use it to draw a virtual circuit board on computers along with drawing the traces and spots of components. The software allows unlimited changes until an editing professional makes the final layout as required.

Etching lines: A CAD PCB software program is used to design a mask print and printed with photo plotter machine. Now, with chemical etching extra copper wires are removed and it gives a basic circuit board ready to get developed. 

Holes by drilling: The task of drilling is usually performed by an automated drilling machine controlled by computer. Every layer of a board requires getting small holes to connect the components. The drilling process is called as ‘VIAS’.

Board plating: Copper is the most common soldering wire and is not easily soldered on the board hence it requires a plate of any material that is solder-able to be coated on the surface. Previously, lead based tin was used for plating purpose but now nickel and gold are used as they are lead-free materials and makes a PCB safe.   

Inspection: Flying probe tester, nails tester and some other computer-controlled testing equipments are used to test a circuit board before assembling the components and mounting the on the board.

The process is highly delicate and requires complete careful attention. It is important to follow ethical rules from the first stage till testing as any tiny mistake can send a circuit board in trash.

What to Look for In a Rapid PCB Prototyping Partner!

If you are familiar with product development, rapid prototyping is a common term. As you know the process of the invention is all about iteration. The product development is the outcome of the combined effect of an idea, remarkable design and top-notch building of the product. Depending on final results, you either make major changes or minor tweaks in order to make what exactly clients desire to witness. Rather rapid prototyping is now practiced in industries to ease the product development process. It chops out the risk of building product that does not meet the clients need. If your design involves PCB, the traditional approach to prototyping is not effective. 

PCB prototyping is a very crucial step in delivering the excellent printed circuit board design. There are many manufacturers out there in Hong Kong who manufacture PCB on demand but it is absurd to say that all such firms use the right techniques and modern innovative parameters to manufacture the PCB. If you are a small company who relies on PCB manufacturer for your business, you must follow the guidelines and assess your needs to quantify what actually you are looking for. Reputed companies have complete cloud integration that allows clients to upload their design if they have any. The manufacturer company allows your full freedom to reiterate your design as many as time you wants. With the better provision of rapid prototype development 

When selecting a rapid PCB prototyping manufacturer, there are few key features you should expect.

1.Instant Quotes: If the vendor can’t get you a quote for your prototype frequently, simply don’t expect anything else about the process to be quick. Perhaps you should look for the other companies.

2.Onshore manufacturing: There are a lot of good reasons to choose a partner that manufactures PCB based on rapid prototype development. 

3.In-house assembly: Not all rapid PCB prototyping services operate their own assembly line, but you can send your designs to 3rd party manufacturers. They imply rapid prototyping before getting into the real PCB production. It helps them eliminate the risk of reiteration. 

4.Cloud management system: It is a combination of a cloud application that allows clients to upload their design and manages all sort of services like ordering, quoting, tweaks, moderation and project tracking. 

5.Control and risk management: Every good manufacturing company takes care of such term. In fact, it is a prior thing in product development. Choosing any PCB manufacturing company that does not follow risk mitigation steps are likely to craft PCB are prone to flaws in it.

In Hong Kong, the PCB manufacture process is available in vast number. It is a hub for such production services. You can also check the internet for finding the top PCB manufacturers. Ensure they have huge clients in the market and must have a positive reputation in the market. Make your business big hit by picking the best rapid PCB prototyping.  

The Best Way to Save Time in Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping help ensure that your work is being headed in the right direction and quickly let you share the exact development of the product with your teammates and customer without investing in the actual development of the project. No matter what product you’re working on rapid prototyping helps you in almost all type of projects. Rapid prototyping plays a crucial role in hardware design and software design as well where a prototype is built before the actual crafting of the product this is done to reduce costing and work overhead in later stages of project development. 

There are some vital points worth considering in order saving time in rapid prototyping:

1.Think of rapid prototyping as disposable 

Rapid prototyping offers you an exciting level of freedom. The main goal of rapid prototyping is to gain feedback for the final product. With small efforts, you can build your product without any risk. Consider a case you are working on a project and when the project reaches its final development customer asked you to bring some changes in the project. Imagine how pity it would be. So the prototype or dummy of the desired product s created first so that initial changes can be easily incorporated. It simply acts as disposable once the actual project is developed. This makes rapid development of the desired product.

2.Establish the clear purpose of each prototype:

Product prototype starts with clear objectives and relies on several steps, it starts with requirement gathering and rapid prototype helps you grab customer feedback and help quickly convey plans and share new ideas with prospects. This helps you make clear project scope and level of fidelity.

3.Define the prototype’s design early:

An early design of prototype could land you in the safe state and free from future stress. It develops clear scope via different approaches.

4.Keep flat design as long as possible:

As you know last minute design can create a ton of work if you build final interaction too early. Attention to UI increase as the deadline approaches. Issue a final call before start building the actual product. This makes you feel heard and stay focused on initial design rather than the rebuilding of the prototype.

5.Perform comprehensive testing before final prototype:

You never know which part of the prototype causing bug into the system so perform unit testing as well as the proper audit to find the lacking site. It is always advised to use proper audit means to assess the prototype layer by layer.

6.Don’t expect all your prototype edge leads to development:

In rapid prototyping, sometimes few points take an unhappy path to the customer. However it should be well designed and separate development specification make the most sense. 

Keep your rapid prototyping rapid for better outcomes, it helps you customer feedback collection and improve the blind spots in the prototype and perform series of enhancement in the prototype for better final development. By following points, you can save time in building your prototype.

Everything You Need To Know About PCB Manufacturing!

The demand for PCBs (printed circuit boards) will seemingly not decrease in the near future; futuristic mobile phones, BluRay disc players, plasma TVs, electric cars have all made certain of this. PCB manufacturing technology is also not relenting and is up to date with modern electronic goods requirements. As an electronics manufacturer, we simply cannot be ignorant of modern PCB tech - the varieties of PCBs being as many as they are representative of the numerous modern PCB techniques and processes only recently developed. The design and manufacture of PCBs should be left to companies equipped with the latest of PCB equipment used in the prototyping and actualization phases.

PCB manufacturing can be divided into manufacturing the boards with or without components. Blank PCBs can be single or double-sided. Different PCBs have different capacities. We can have multilayered PCBs manufactured via techniques such as PCB milling, copper etching, screen printing etc. Most PCB fabrication companies also offer prototyping services - this involves developing a working PCB model before actual mass production can commence.

The raw materials used in PCB manufacturing are varied but copper is the basic material. Copper is always coated using a tin-lead combination to protect it against oxidation. The industry standard for PCB contact points is copper covered with this lead-tin combination, plated with nickel, and finished off with gold to maintain excellent conductivity. The quality control considerations that the manufacturer works by are a point to look out for. This involves the various visual as well as computerized scrutinies of the printed circuit board manufacturing steps from the conception to shipping stages. It also details the steps taken to rectify flaws and faults in the process.

PCB board manufacturing can be a very harmful process both to humans and the environment. This is especially so where the element Lead is present. A PCB manufacturing plant should be able to clearly define the safety considerations it has in place to deal with toxic matter, ways of disposing of obsolete PCBs, the recycling processes, and the modern human and environmentally-friendly equipment and processes they have in place.

The manufacturing process deployed is crucial as the working of the PCB and therefore the different equipment used in PCB manufacturing are complex and sensitive. The fabrication environment is also a controlled one so as to prevent the PCBs from any contamination. Your PCB firm of choice should be able to guarantee this even for the final product packaging process. Ignoring this is equal to putting your company and its electronic products' reputation in jeopardy. When partnering with a PCB manufacturer, it is important to choose a firm with extensive experience. As a customer, you should also be verifying if the firm has a proven track record.

What is PCB and what is the use of PCB layout?

PCB stands for ‘Printed Circuit Board’ and it is used for high volume production without an expensive environment. Its main use is to connect the electronic components manually. PCB products are used in simple electronic products and are best used to connect electronic components using constructive tracks onto a non-conductive substrate. PCB can be of different types - single copper layer, double sided copper layers, or multi-layers which will have outlet & inner layers. What does it do? They allow higher component density in the primary insulating substrate.

What is PCB Fabrication?

First, the designing of the PCB is done and a prototype PCB plays a critical and significant role in the creation of its design and manufacturing. Also, if there is any problem in the designing phase or if any changes are necessary for the design of the PCB prototype, then it can be done easily. A fresh prototype is created and supervised in case of any failure during the overall procedure. The entire process of PCB fabrication includes steps like - etching, multi-layer processing, masking, drilling, engraving photos, finishing and finally electrical testing.

PCB Testing

PCB testing is done to check the efficiency of the board and the test plays an important role in the completion of the process. To make the PCB function well and perform outstanding well, it used different types of specifications like Arlon using for longer life in high temperatures and for flexibility, polyimide is used. Has the test turned out to be negative? Replace or repair the entire board effectively. It will help incorporating advanced circuits to exhibit at PCB.

Provided here are some of the efficient tips in the PCB Layout

PCB layout ensures that the prototype PCB is functional after the fabrication process. The process gets neglected due to most of the attention of circuit formation. Consider the tips for improving the efficiency of the PCB layout –

Sizzling Traces: It is used in PCB assembly for higher resistance and the two points connect within the PCB. With the use of length, width, and thickness, the resistance of the trace is controlled.

Make Smaller Loops: Larger loops are made small as smaller loops have lower inductance. It spikes the result from a PCB, with reduction of an amount of higher frequency voltage.

Decouple Capacitor Placement: If the capacitor is placed near the power and ground pins, it results in an increase of efficiency.

Keep Noise Traces Away from Analog Traces: The doubling of the signal on the traces are the result of the placement of 2 types of traces.

There are many prototype PCB manufacturer who develops efficient circuit boards. These manufacturers are known for developing prototypes which serves the best interest in getting the fault-free final product.

Facts You May Not Know About Print Circuit Boards!

It has been well established that prototype printed circuit boards are a very complex puzzle in themselves. Their usage is of a variety and they come in different sizes that depend on the use of it. And one thing is fixed for it, that it’ll always be an amalgamation of different components to come together for its assembly. 

Putting all these parts together can be a bit time taking and complex but we can break it down into the most common components to further understand its uses.

Read Also:- How Printed Board Circuit works and how to get an efficient PCB layout?

If you’re familiar with the purpose of prototype printed circuit boards or PCB fabrication, you probably know how commonplace and necessary they are in today’s technologically dependent world. But even though printed circuit boards are found in almost every device we use on a daily basis, you might not know these four amazing facts about PCBs:

1.Some gramophones had printed circuit boards.

If you come to think of it, prototypes PCBs aren’t something that is entirely a new concept. They were there is early 1900sand after that too. And they were used in a few gramophones and also tube radios. They might not look similar to the printed circuit board prototypes that we are used to seeing now, but no matter what the format was, they helped in bringing entertainment and new developments into our homes like they do today.

2.The first PCBs were funded by a music printing company.

Father of the Modern Printed Circuit Board, Paul Eisler escaped the Nazis, and he was an inventor from Australia. He worked at a music printing company and shared the idea with everyone of a new invention.  And that was to make the first printed circuit board prototype. So, the company decided to invest in his idea. Today we see the results of his hard work as the prototype printed circuit boards.

3. No one knows why they’re still green.

The green material that is used on the layout of the PCB is a solder mask that’s visible through the glass. But nowadays technology has improved; solder masks are available in various colors. But the question remains that, why is the board still green then? Some people believe its story goes back to the military reigns and some also say that unlike that belief it was just about being uniformed. The companies just wanted stick to their idea of convention and continue with the original color. But then the legacy does continue and we stick to have the color green with us till date. 

4. PCBs are vital in space travel.

Not a lot of people would know this, but as being an integral part of NASA’s space program, these circuit boards did help in getting the Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon and back safely. These boards are ideal for difficult electronics, given that they are light weight and need a very small amount of energy.  

Although we live with an assumption that the technology we see and use today is brand new, the fact remains that they go long back in time and have a very fascinating history to them.

How Printed Board Circuit works and how to get an efficient PCB layout?

Printed circuit boards are used in simplest electronic products and it connects electronic components using conductive tracks, pads and other features onto a non-conductive substrate. Advanced PCBs contain components embedded in the substrate and components are generally soldered on the PCB. It can be single sided which contain one copper layer, double sided which contain two copper layers, or multi-layers which will have outlet & inner layers. Multi-layer PCBs allow higher component density and FR-4 glass epoxy is the primary insulating substrate.

Read Also:- All about PCB Board Manufacturers!

In simple terms, a PCB can be defined as a tool providing mechanical and electronic connections by routing signals & power. Before PCB, there used to be a wire-to-wire connection but the durability of the device can be problematic. With the increase in demand, these assemblies have become common now. Also, the use of smaller ubiquitous technology has made the system more cost-effective. PCB assemblies have an application in almost every electronic appliance like computers & printers, TVs, home appliances, digital clocks, and cell phones.

Tips and Tricks for an Efficient PCB Layout

The PCB layout is often neglected with the majority attention on the formatting of the circuits. It ensures that the prototype PCB is functional after the fabrication process. Look at some of the tips to improve the efficiency of a PCB layout –

Sizing Traces

A copper rack used in PCB assembly is high in resistance and it connects two points within the PCB. The resistance of the trace is controlled by designers with the use of length, width, and thickness. To provide different levels of thickness, designers use anything between one and six ounces of copper.

Make the Loops Small

Smaller loops have lower inductance and resistance and so large loops are made small as possible. The reduction of an amount of high-frequency voltage spikes results from a PCB with high loops.

Decoupling Capacitor Placement

Increase the efficiency by placing the capacitor near to the power and ground pins of integrated circuits. The placement of capacitors at a distance results in a reduction of inductance ability.

Keep Noise Traces Away from Analog Traces

The placement of 2 types of traces will result in doubling of signal on the traces. Now those of you are not looking to keep the noise on the need to keep the high frequencies away.

Leave Room

Prevent the shock hazards by leaving the room between copper traces and fills. There should be a proper distance between the two if solder mark is not working as a reliable conductor.

Contact the PCB manufacturer for the effective design and preparation of rigid flex PCBs. PCBs are having high density to support new products and small packaging. Also, it has extremely thin feature if a circuit board reduces the bias force with a thin base pill. Also, flexible PCB has a high thermal transfer feature and it is resistant to heat. The most highly heat resistant FPC has reached 150 degree Celsius and reached a maximum temperature at 175 degree Celsius.