Circuit board prototyping is an important aspect of many industries. Pretty much any organization that utilizes any electronic and technological software, owes their functionality to prototype printed circuit boards.
It’s best to not just push out any product without doing diligent testing beforehand to ensure correct and proper functionality. That’s why the circuit board prototyping process is one of the most important aspects of production for a business.
There are many things that go into all the various prototype PCBs that companies use. Here are some facts about printed circuit boards that are important for all manufactures and businesses to know:
- The main components of a printed board are connected electronically through two differing methods of connection.
- The first method is the through-hole technology where the mounting scheme for the electronic components involves leads being inserted and drilled into the circuit board directly. They are soldered to pads on either side of the PCB and can be held by manual assembly.
- The second method is called surface mount technology which is a much newer method. It’s a method where the electronic components and physically placed or mounted directly onto the surface of the printed circuit boards.
- There are a few other methods to actually print the legend on the PCBs. The legend contains the test points, switch settings, component designations, and various other assembling indications. To print, you can either use liquid photo imaging, ink jet printing, or silk screen printing.
- Soldiering techniques, which are the methods used to actually attach the components to a PCB, can be used for high volume production boards. Usually done with SMT placement machine and bulk wave soldering. Experienced and skilled technicians can solder even the smallest of parts.
- The laminates used for PCBs are created by curing under pressure and temperature layers of paper or cloth that have thermoset resin. This allows the final piece to from into a uniform thickness for the best quality. The sizes of these laminates can be manufactured up to four by eight feet in width and length.
Circuit board prototyping can seem complicated, but if you are working with skilled technicians and experienced professionals you should have very few problems.
