This engine also supports rigid-flex circuits, and when used in combination with the Fold State slider in the PCB panel, it allows the designer to examine their rigid-flex design in the flat state(no Bending Line settings applied), the fully folded state (all Bending Line settings applied), and anywhere in between. A drill table detailing finished hole size, associated tolerances and plated/not plated. The original, or standard mode, referred to as Rigid-Flex, supports simple rigid-flex designs. The video below demonstrates the process. When you create a new PCB document, it is the black area displayed in the PCB editor workspace. For power and ground planes a 1 oz thickness of copper is usually used. Altium Designer offers these important PCB design and layout features, and much more. During placement: When in either of the arc corner modes, hold the arrowkeys to shrink or grow the arc. Polygonal areas of coverlay (both automatic and manually placed) - a closed polyline outline is generated, defining the outer edge of each region of coverlay. We've included over 100 pages with detailed examples, a huge glossary, and much more. If a region has a layer stack assignedand that stack has the IsFlex option enabled in the Properties panel, Bending Lines can be placed across that region.
Designing a Rigid-Flex PCB in Altium Designer Designing any PCB is a three-dimensional design process, but for a flex or rigid-flex design, the three-dimensional requirements are much more important. Your bending region is much easier to define when you have a 3D view of your circuit board. To move a Bending Line, click and drag on each end handle. Pouch material can be used for ease of manufacturing and must be removed from the flexible portion of the board prior to shipping. Learn More Traditional thru-hole and SMT connectors, high density circular connectors, D-subminiature connectors, pin and socket connectors, leaded and unleaded, are all options to consider with flexible materials. Apply green LPI soldermask (if required) over bare copper on both sidesin the rigid sections onlyof the board. Instead of using other design platforms that silo important features, you can take a new flex printed circuit design through to production with Altium Designer.
Planning Rigid & Flex Regions for Your PCB in Altium Designer Flexible circuits are normally divided into two usage classes: static flexible circuits, and dynamic flexible circuits. Note that these are registered trade names, owned by their respective trademark holders. Your device application and form factor require you to consider whether your flex elements will be static, dynamic, or creased. Because the rigid-flex board may attach to multiple surfaces within the product enclosure, with the attaching and folding process often happening during product assembly. The board shape can be a polygonal region of any shape, with straight or curved edges that lie at any angle, that can also include cutouts (internal holes) of any shape. Zachariah Peterson has an extensive technical background in academia and industry. These are summarized below. Although you want to prevent fracture, you also need to ensure your product will fit in its enclosure once the flexible ribbon is bent. Two conductive layers with an insulating layer between; outer layers can have covers or exposed pads. Working with multiple boards and rigid-flex designs is simple in Altium Designer.
Flexible Printed Circuit Board Construction by Rigiflex Technology The Bend zone is displayed in a green-orange color, click anywhere within the zone to select that Bend. A representation of the layer stack for an eight layer rigid circuit. It would make life easier if all printed circuit boards were the same size and shape, but thats not the way it works. Youll need to understand the mechanical properties of your materials to design the right bend radius, and many of the foundational concepts of rigid boards still apply. Download this FREE Ebook to receive an in-depth look at HDI PCB design and the standard HDI manufacturing processes. Reduce design time by eliminating your component creation process. The flexible copper clad material shall be IPC 4204/11 (flexible adhesive-less copper clad dielectric material). This engine also supports rigid-flex circuits, and when used in combination with the Fold State slider in the PCB panel, it allows the designer to examine their rigid-flex design in the flat state, the fully folded state, and anywhere in between. A bending Line is a linear object that is placed across a region. If coverlay layers are added to the substack after that substack has already been assigned to a Board Region, then coverlays must be added to that region. For the latest, read: Designing a Rigid-Flex PCB for version 23 Applies to Altium Designer version: 21 Contents What is Rigid-Flex? The rigid material shall be GFN per IPC-4101/24 (if using epoxy material). Flexible circuits reduce weight in spacecraft and can be used in enclosures where there is minimal available space. If two Board Regions are overlapped (and those regions have common layers), then the stack with more layers is applied in the overlapping area. In this situation, you must remove the coverlay (. Your flex or rigid-flex PCBs carry strict mechanical constraints alongside important electrical requirements. Panelization - orient the flex regions to suit the grain of material (bend along the grain). Define the Substack needed for each Region of the board, and configure how those Substacks align with each other in the Z plane. The integrated ECAD and MCAD tools let you do more than just verify clearances. Multilayer rigid and flexible material combinations (Rigid-Flex) containing three or more conductive layers with plated-through holes. To design a flex-only PCB, first define the rigid substack then add a flex substack, as shown in the image below. This method of editing allows you to select a placed coverlay polygon object directly in the design space andgraphically change its size, shape or location. This is measured over finished plated surfaces. Learn more about the layout features you need for flex and rigid-flex design. These divide the board into three separate regions. Click once on a coverlay polygon object to select it, which puts it into edit mode. To check that the video captures the folding process correctly, click the play button (located in the player controls at the bottom of the panel. A Bending Line can be removed by clicking and holding on one of the vertices, then pressing. Prior to working in the PCB industry, he taught at Portland State Universityand conductedresearch on random laser theory, materials,and stability. If you are looking for the best PCB design software for your next device, you need a platform that integrates all these design aspects and more into a single software package. PCBs are built to be rigid, rigid-flex, or flex according to their implementation and application. Pre-preg - short for pre-impregnated, is a flexible material, typically also containing woven glass, which is supplied to the PCB fabricator partially cured (not completely cooked). Flexible printed circuits are designed using photolithographic technology. Easily design schematics of any complexity. Download the PcbDoc file used in the video. The PCB editor is a layered design environment. PCB designers need to be familiar with numerous techniques and design rules in order to keep up. Apply green LPI soldermask (if required) over bare copper on both sidesin the rigid sections onlyof the board. Found an issue with this document? As the project engineer, your first task is identifying your team. Altium Rigid-flex Guidebook: Your Complete Design Guide | Altium Designer / Tutorial - A Complete Design Walkthrough with Altium Designer . Silkscreen both sides of the board (if required) using white or yellow (most common) non-conductive epoxy ink. Pad shape and area - use fillets (teardrops)with rabbit ears (anchoring spurs) for single-sided flex. Many other common devices are shrinking, and the PCBs that run them are following suit. Confirm that the Bend is being applied to the correct Substack Region, available regions are listed in the. Instead of working with external software, you can easily create a strong flex/rigid-flex stack-up and layout, and you can verify mechanical constraints in a single program. You are reporting an issue with the following selected text, Entry Level, Professional PCB Design Tool, Free PCB design for makers, open source and non-profits, See why and how to switch to Altium from other PCB design tools, Extensive, Easy-to-Use Search Engine for Electronic Parts, Add the coverlay layer(s) into the substack and configure the layer properties in the, Defining Bends in the Flex Region (Advanced mode), How Output is Generated for Coverlay Layers, Designing a Flex-only PCB (Advanced mode), Designing a Board with a Flex Region Inside a Cutout (Advanced mode), Displaying and Folding a Rigid-Flex Design in 3D, 3D Movie Maker Support for Rigid-Flex Designs, Defining the Substacks (Standard Rigid-Flex Mode), Defining the Substacks (Advanced Rigid-Flex Mode), Rigid & Flex Regions Planningin Standard Rigid-Flex Mode, Bending Zone Definition in Standard Rigid-Flex Mode, Rigid & Flex Regions Planningin Advanced Rigid-Flex Mode, Bending Zone Definition in Advanced Rigid-Flex Mode, Editing Polygonal Shaped PCB Design Objects, Flex and Rigid-Flex Circuits Technical Engineering Guide, Altium Designer also supports including rigid-flex boards as part of a multi-board design. There are two rigid-flex design modes available in Altium's PCB design software. Additionally, if the rigid-flex design has a number of rigid sections joined by a number of flex sections, there may be a different set of layers used in each of these sections. Each of these options comes with its own set of flexible design techniques. Bending Lines can share the same sequence number;it simply means that those bends will be folded at the same time when the Fold State slider is used. IPC2581B - as with ODB++, supporting multiple layer stack definitions and polygons of layer stack regions. Learn more about best practices for layer stack design in Altium Designer. A well-known commercial example is wearable electronics that include fitness and health monitors. This guidebook is an attempt to clearly explain the materials, processes and design issues in a way that will enlighten PCB designers of any level.This paper highlights several key considerations for rigid-flex design. They have an elongated grain andit is important to orient this correctly in a dynamic flex circuit to achieve the maximum flexing lifespan. A bending Line is a linear object, whose properties are edited in the Bend mode of the Properties panel. When the output is generated, each layer is output as separate data. The covercoat material shall be per IPC 4203/1. Dynamic flexible circuits (also referred to as use B) are those that are designed for frequent flexing,such as a disk drive head, a printer head, or as part of the hinge in a laptop screen. The copper layers are separated by insulation layers. Access holes to conductors can be on either one or both sides. These processes are very similar to rigid PCB fabrication processes, but involving different material sets as illustrated in an earlier guide. The Flex PCB shall be RoHS compliant (if required). CoDesigner allows the engineers to pass the board shape and component changes back and forth between the ECAD and MCAD design domains directly from within the ECAD and MCAD design software. The Board Shape is a PCB object (also referred to as the Board Outline) which is essentially a closed polygon. Click anywhere on the coverlay polygon away from editing handlesthen drag to reposition it. Working with a flexible printed circuit ribbon is all about ensuring components and traces on your board are not damaged under repeated bending.
State Fair Wristbands,
Andon System Suppliers,
Trucking Companies That Hire With 3 Months Experience,
Housekeeping Jobs In Qatar,
Husky Connect Vs Craftsman Versastack,
Iphone 13 Pro Wide Angle Lens,
Safest Blanket For Toddler,
Kids Memory Foam Pillow,
Budget Production Cart,
Smart City Presentation Ppt,