Printed circuit board assembly is used in various electronic equipments. They need to be assembled with precision for proper functioning. Read on to know the importance of PCB assembly.
PCB also known as printed circuit board which mechanically supports and also connects the electrical components by means of signal traces and conductive pathways. The electric signals pass through etchings from copper sheets which are laminated to act as non conductive substrates. A PCB with many electrical components is known as PCB assembly.
When designing PCBs precision is of great importance which makes the production costly but allows automation of manufacturing and assembly. The PCB assemblies are used in most of the electronic appliances as it makes the production cheaper and faster.
The process of assembling the PCB to make the circuit work is the most difficult and interesting part. It consists of many intricate steps and following them is essential to get a proper working PCB assembly. Without observing all the steps one may end up with PCBs with two major flaws, ‘open’ or ‘shorts’.
There are two processes for assembling the PCB components. First one is called through-hole construction where the PCB components are inserted in the holes. The second process is called surface mount construction where the components are situated on pads that are on the external surface of the PCB. In both the assembling procedures, the components are mechanically and electrically fixed on the board with the help of a soldering metal. The components are soldered using various metals. In case of productions of high volume, soldering is done using wave type soldering or machine placement.
Soldering is followed by PCB Resin Encapsulation or conformal coating. As PCBs have to face many contaminants in various application environments, to ensure an unhindered system performance coating or encapsulation is very important. It gives mechanical protection and also improves the electrical property by providing complete insulation. Most of the companies these days prefer conformal coating over PCB resin encapsulation because of the ease of coating process. Also the thin layering helps in miniaturization of the electronic devices and also improves reliability.
The type of board material used in PCBs dictates the type of application. There are various types of PCB assemblies based on the board material.
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Flex PCB assembly: these types of PCBs are pattered on flexible base material so that it can conform to a desired shape throughout its application. These types of PCBs are used in communication, automotives industries, portable electronics, medical industries and many others.
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Rigid-flex assembly: this type of circuit uses multiple layers of both rigid and flexible board materials. The rigid-flex boards are designed in 3D space unlike the others. These PCBs find application in various fields like military equipments, cell phones, automobiles and more.
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Metal backed PCB assembly: this type of circuit uses a metal board as base which acts as a heat dissipater. They pass the heat away from crucial circuit components. These are widely used in LED technology.
As the PCB manufacturing process is costly most electronic device manufacturing companies prefer outsourcing the production task to contractual PCB assembly manufactures. There are several companies in the market these days who offer contractual or Sub Contractual PCB Assembly services. These companies provide prototypes to their clients before starting the complete production so as to let the client verify its credentials as per their requirement. The best PCB assembly providers will work with the exact dimensions and specific configurations provided by the client.
Bio
As an electrical & electronics engineer of early 80’s, Mr. William Robert met with lots of experiences in this filed with various companies & specially related to circuit manufacturing and technology. Now with expertise of all these years of, he wants to make people aware of PCB circuits board. In this article Mr. Robert is sharing some useful information about PCB resin encapsulation, metal backed PCB assembly to everyone.
