Flexible printed circuit boards (also called flexible PCBs or Flex PCBs) are named for their ability to enable circuits to be designed to fit electronic devices or products, as opposed to building devices that conform to PCB. The characteristic of the flexible board is the printed circuit board with an obvious pattern and the arrangement of the components, and it is highlighted by the malleable base material.
Advantages:
1) More freedom and possibilities in PCB design
2) Better heat dissipation and solderability
3) Improve durability and reliability
4) More flexible installation and less installation time
5) Required less space for high-density applications
Application:
The application of flexible printed circuit boards can greatly reduce the volume and weight of the final product, thereby meeting the requirements of high density, high reliability, and miniaturization in the development of electronic products. Therefore, flexible PCBs have been widely used in military, aerospace, mobile communications, digital cameras, computer peripherals, portable computers, etc. Although flexible PCBs have many advantages, they cannot replace rigid PCBs in certain applications. First of all, they are relatively expensive, and sometimes they are difficult to meet customer requirements for cost-effectiveness. Second, the flexible base is slightly insufficient in the carrying capacity of the components. Then, in most cases, combining rigid and flexible circuits is an ideal solution for manufacturing purposes. Rigid boards can be connected with flexible circuits so that their advantages can be used in different PCB designs.
