Thursday 23 May 2013

Important Facts About The Manufacturing Of PCB Boards

By Carissa Glenn


A printed circuit board is an essential part of electrically and mechanically driven devices. It is used in connecting and supporting electronic components with an electrically charged tract from the copper sheet laminated on non conductive substrate. PCB is heavily populated with different electrical elements collectively known as printed circuit assembly. The manufacturing of PCB boards entails a systematic approach where only the ones who have the ropes are allowed to work.

A printed circuit board design is not done based only on the creativity and resourcefulness of a fabricator. Design, assembly as well as quality control needs are identified by the Association Connecting Electronics Industries or IPC organization, a trade association that wishes to establish standardized assembly and production of any electronic equipment. This is why PCBs need to be initially designed before they go out to the market.

Introduced some time in the 20th century, the first modern boards were invented by German inventor Albert Hanson. This was then developed by famous, Thomas Edison, an American inventor and businessman. In 1904, he experimented with chemical method in plating conductor using linen paper. It was by 1913 that an electronics company designed and patented the print-and-etch approach.

Later on, an Austrian engineer named Paul Eister created a printed circuit for a radio set. The technology began to spread in the U. S. In 1943 as an essential component of a proximity fuse. Proximity fuses were explosive devices used during the second World War. These automatically blew up upon drawing nearer to a target.

Before the prototypes were released, a point-to-point assembly was employed. This is a system used for electronic circuit construction that is non-automated. Some time around 1936 to 1947, another renown electronics company developed the technology and spraying it on plastic board.

Prior before all those enhancements, the electronic components had certain wire leads passing through holes which were then soldered unto a PCB trace. Such construction method is popularly known as through-hole construction, an electronic approach that typically involves the use of lead on the components inserted into the board's holes and a mounting scheme. This is done manually.

In the 1980s, the surface-mount device was introduced by which electronic circuits had to be mounted on the board's surface directly. This technology prompted production of smaller devices and eventually replaced through-hole construction. Both technologies, however, could be used in the same board.

Manufacturers today largely use laminates, copper-clad laminates, resin Pre-preg and copper foil. Laminates are fabricated through using a thermosetting plastic resin in creating integral pieces with uniform thickness. Common length runs from four to eight feet. Standard resin percentage, cloth weaves and thickness are required in achieving the desired dielectric characteristics. The cloth used will determine the ratio of the resin in the laminate being produced.

In addition, the manufacturing of PCB boards pass through several subtractive processes. These normally involve PCB milling, silk screenings printing and photoengraving. Circuit properties likewise pass through chemical etching, a subtractive process of manufacturing that is now regarded very important in the board's production.




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