Double-Sided Flexible PCB Region Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flexible printed circuit boards face challenges in achieving sufficient flexibility due to increased circuit traces and electronic components, leading to stiffness issues, especially in compact designs where circuit traces must be formed on both sides of the substrate.
Innovation Solution
A double-sided flexible printed circuit board design featuring a flexible substrate with specific regions and layers, where a portion of the dielectric top or bottom layer is removed to expose the substrate, allowing for enhanced flexibility while maintaining a larger layout area through strategically placed conductive and cap layers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If circuit traces are formed on both sides of the substrate to increase connectivity, then the layout area is maximized, but the stiffness increases and flexibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is divided into different regions: a first region with both conductive layers and cap layers for high connectivity, and a second region with only the lower conductive layer and cap layer for flexibility. This segmentation allows the board to have large layout area in the first region while maintaining flexibility in the second region.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the substrate are given different structural qualities. The first region has a rigid structure with both conductive layers and cap layers for maximum connectivity, while the second region has a flexible structure with minimal layers, allowing the board to bend easily where needed.
2Strength
If cap layers cover the entire surfaces of conductive layers, then the structural integrity is maintained, but the flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate surface is segmented into a first region covered with cap layers for structural integrity and a second region exposed without cap layers for flexibility. This allows the board to maintain strength where needed while achieving flexibility where required.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap layers are removed from the second region of the substrate, extracting the rigid covering that would otherwise prevent bending. This extraction allows the substrate to flex freely in the second region while maintaining structural integrity in the first region where cap layers remain.
3Volume of moving object
If the layout area is reduced to accommodate compact size, then the device becomes more compact, but the number of circuit traces must increase which further increases stiffness
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is segmented into a first region with dual conductive layers for high-density circuit traces and a second region with single conductive layer for flexibility. This allows compact layout in the first region while maintaining flexibility in the second region, achieving compact size without excessive stiffness.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible printed circuit board includes a flexible substrate having a first region, a second region and a third region; a first conductive foil layer disposed on a lower surface of the flexible substrate, so as to cover the first region, the second region and the third region; a first cap layer disposed on the first conductive foil layer; an second conductive foil layer disposed on an upper surface of the flexible substrate, so as to cover the first region, part of the second region, and the third region, and to expose part of the flexible substrate on the second region; and a second cap layer disposed on the second conductive foil layer.