Flexible PCB via electroplating and etching to remove thick land plating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible printed circuit boards experience reduced flexibility due to thick plating layers on land parts, and the pattern plating method is costly and time-consuming, requiring a mask formation step.
Innovation Solution
A method involving through-hole formation, electroplating to fill conductive material, and surface layer removal by etching, eliminating the need for land parts and reducing production costs by avoiding thick plating on land areas, while ensuring high adhesiveness and conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pattern plating is performed to form land parts with thick plating layers, then conductivity and adhesion are improved, but flexibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the land parts from the flexible circuit board structure. By removing the thick plating layers on land parts, the board maintains conductivity through conductive patterns and via holes while eliminating the flexibility-deteriorating thick plating, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies different plating characteristics to different areas: thick plating is applied only to via holes and conductive patterns where conductivity is needed, while land parts have no thick plating, preserving flexibility. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing reliability only where necessary
2Reliability
If pattern plating is performed to form land parts, then conductivity is improved, but production cost and manufacturing time increase due to mask formation step
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the mask formation step from the manufacturing process by removing the need for land parts. The conductive patterns are formed directly through electroplating without requiring masks, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining conductivity
Solution Approach 2:
The electroplating process itself defines the conductive pattern locations through the base material structure, eliminating the need for external mask formation. The process serves itself by using the substrate geometry to control plating deposition, reducing manufacturing steps and costs
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method produces flexible printed circuit boards with enhanced flexibility and reduced production costs by eliminating the need for thick plating on land parts and mask formation, achieving high adhesiveness and conductivity.
Implementation Method 1
stacking, by electroplating on a front surface of the base material, a conductive material on a surface of the metal film on the front surface side to form a conductive material layer and to fill the through-hole with the conductive material
Implementation Method 2
removing, by etching the front surface of the base material, a surface layer of the conductive material layer stacked on the surface of the metal film on the front surface side and a surface layer of the conductive material filling the through-hole
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing a flexible printed circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a through-hole formation step of preparing a base material including a base film having insulating properties and flexibility and a pair of metal films stacked on both surface sides of the base film, and forming a through-hole in the metal film on a front surface side of the base material and the base film; a filling step of stacking, by electroplating on a front surface of the base material, stacking a conductive material on a surface of the metal film on the front surface side to form a conductive material layer and to fill the through-hole with the conductive material; and a removal step of removing, by etching the front surface of the base material, a surface layer of the conductive material layer stacked on the surface of the metal film on the front surface side and a surface layer of the conductive material filling the through-hole.