If the circuit design is relatively simple, the total volume is not large, and the space is suitable, most of the traditional interconnection methods are much cheaper. If the circuit is complex, handles many signals, or has special electrical or mechanical performance requirements, flexible circuits are a good design choice. When the size and performance of the application exceeds the capacity of the rigid circuit, the flexible assembly method is the most economical. A 12 mil pad with 5 mil through holes and a 3 mil line and pitch flexible circuit can be made on a film. Therefore, it is more reliable to mount chips directly on the film. Because it does not contain a flame retardant that may be a source of ion drilling contamination. These films may be protective and cure at higher temperatures, resulting in higher glass transition temperatures. The reason that flexible materials save costs compared to rigid materials is the elimination of connectors.
High-cost raw materials are the main reason for the high price of flexible circuits. The price of raw materials varies greatly. The cost of the lowest cost polyester flexible circuit is 1.5 times that of the rigid circuit; the high-performance polyimide flexible circuit is up to 4 times or higher. At the same time, the flexibility of the material makes it difficult to carry out automated processing during the manufacturing process, which leads to a decline in output; defects are prone to occur during the final assembly process, these defects include peeling off flexible accessories and broken lines. This type of situation is more likely to occur when the design is not suitable for the application. Under the high stress caused by bending or forming, it is often necessary to choose reinforcing materials or reinforcing materials. Despite its high raw material cost and cumbersome manufacturing, the foldable, bendable, and multi-layer puzzle functions will reduce the overall component size, reduce the materials used, and reduce the overall assembly cost.
The flexible circuit industry is in a small but rapid development. The polymer thick film method is an efficient and low-cost production process. This process selectively screen-prints conductive polymer ink on an inexpensive flexible substrate. Its representative flexible substrate is PET. Polymer thick film conductors include screen-printed metal fillers or carbon powder fillers. The polymer thick film method itself is very clean, using lead-free SMT adhesive, without etching. Because of its addition process and low substrate cost, the polymer thick film method circuit is 1/10 of the price of copper polyimide film circuit; it is 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of rigid circuit board. The polymer thick film method is especially suitable for the control panel of the equipment. On mobile phones and other portable products, the polymer thick film method is suitable for converting the components, switches and lighting devices on the printed circuit board into a polymer thick film method circuit. Not only save costs, but also reduce energy consumption.
Generally speaking, the manufacturing of flexible circuit boards is indeed more expensive and costly than rigid circuits. In the manufacture of flexible boards, in many cases it is necessary to face the fact that many parameters are outside the tolerance range. The difficulty in manufacturing flexible circuits lies in the flexibility of the materials. However, considering that flexible circuit boards can achieve many rigid circuit boards that cannot be achieved, the manufacture and development of flexible circuit boards is a high-value direction. In Shenzhen Jingwanying Electronics Co., Ltd., in order to maximize cost savings and improve product quality, we use the most professional technical team, the most advanced production and testing equipment to control the economical practicability of flexible circuit board manufacturing.