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Electronic Contract Manufacturing and the Development of PCB Assemblies

By: Judy Hall

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Early in the 1850s, the innovations in electronic connection systems prepared the ground for the changes that resulted in the production of printed circuit boards. Electrical elements that were large and occupying lots of space were hooked up to one another by means of strips of metal, which were subsequently replaced by wires attached to screw terminals. The substrates on which these components were placed were originally made of wood, and were later substituted by metal framework. Further advancement in the development of new products made necessary the designing of miniature parts to be seated on an increasingly constrained area of the board. This paved the way to the increasing use of the PCB design services.

In the year 1925, Charles Ducas of the United States made a patent application for a production process of making an electric trail straight onto an insulated substrate by printing through a stencil with electrically conductive networks. Prevalent use of Eislers methodology failed to come till the 1950s when the transistor became integrated for mass production. With the appearance of transistors the electrical elements became small and manufacturers turned to made printed circuit boards to scale back the overall size of the electronic package. The ensuing advancement in element density and densely spaced electric trails started a new generation in PCB design.

Single-sided boards have the parts on one side of the base. When the quantity of parts becomes too much for a single-sided board, a double-sided board could be used. The 3rd type, a multi- layered board, has a substrate made of layers of revealed circuits separated by layers of insulation.

Electronic Components on a printed circuit board are electrically connected to the circuits by two different techniques : the traditional through hole technology and the more advanced surface mount technique. With through hole technology, each electrical element has thin wires, or leads, that are pushed through little holes in the board and soldered to connection pads in the network of circuits on the other side. Gravity and mutual friction between the leads and the sides of the holes keeps the elements in position till they are soldered. With surface mount technology, stubby J-shaped or L-shaped legs on each component contact the printed circuits directly. A solder paste consisting of glue, flux, and solder are applied at the point of contact to hold the components in place until the solder is liquified, or reflowed, in an oven to make the final connection. Though surface mount technology requires greater care in the placement of the parts, it eliminates the time-intensive drilling process and the space-consuming connection pads inherent with through hole technology. Both technologies are used today.

2 other specifications of circuit assemblies are in resemblance with the printed circuit board. An integrated circuit, sometimes termed as an IC or microchip, takes on a similar operation to a printed circuit board aside that the IC comprises many more circuits and components that are electrochemically produced in place on the surface of a small chip of silicon.

The miniaturization of electrical goods continues to lay the groundwork for printed circuit board designs towards smaller and more closely packed boards with more demanding electronic capacities. Future designs beyond the boards detailed here include 3 dimensional moulded plastic boards in addition to the increased use of integrated circuit chips. These and future advancements will ensure the development of printed circuit boards an ongoing industry for many years to come.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

The contributor to this article is an engineer of a corporation offering PCB design services and related electronics design expertise.

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