Do you use a computer when you’re at home? How about a laptop? It’s actually a little difficult to not be in contact with a form of technology somehow and someway when you’re going to work, school or visiting family. Who do we have to thank, though, for so many useful and varied products of technology making our lives easier and more interconnected than ever before? Circuit board prototyping is a process that involves designing, producing and selling the circuit boards that undercut any and all electronic technology — cellphones, home computers, laptops, manufacturing machinery, you name it! Let’s look at the history of the printed circuit board prototype, where it originally came from and how it’s developed today.
History Of The Printed Circuit Board
Did you know printed circuit boards were created as early as the 1900’s? It’s no joke! While electronic technology definitely wasn’t as advanced back then as it is now, the efforts of older scientists and engineers helped pave the way for what we enjoy today. A German inventor once used foil conductors on insulated boards to assist in the creation of more advanced electronics, while the world famous Thomas Edison did something rather similar but with different forms of paper. How is a printed circuit board prototype designed, though, and what does it eventually lead to?
Assembly Design
Without the initial design process many products wouldn’t see the light of day. Framed stencils are much beloved for their smooth aperture walls and are frequently used for 16 Mil pitches and below. The two types of circuit assemblies related to the printed circuit board design are the integrated circuit (this is sometimes called an IC or microchip) as well as the popular hybrid circuit. There are three common methods used to print the legend, that of which has all the different component designators, switch settings, test joints and general tips for assembling and testing.
Production Design
The creation of printed circuit boards is crucial, as even a minor error can greatly compromise the final product. Etchings and designs are incredibly tiny and require a steady hand and constant eye to reproduce properly from the templates. The soldering techniques used to attach components to your average printed circuit board are usually done with high volume production, SMT placement machines, bulk wave soldering and reflow ovens — despite the accuracy and time-saving measures of machine production lines, some skilled techniques can solder very tiny parts (as small as 0.02 inches by 0.01 inches).
Construction Design
Last, but certainly not least, we have the final stage. Laminates are manufactured by using a curing method — thermoset resin is both pressurized and heated with layers of cloth and paper to form a uniformly thick final result. This can be incredibly tiny or incredibly large (as much as four by eight feet in width and length). Glass epoxy is the insulating substrate that these rigid circuit boards are produce on, with thin layers of copper laminated on both sides — the circuitry interconnections that are etched onto these layers create the iconic, colorful boards we’re all familiar with.
Benefits Of Printed Circuit Board Assembly
It’s not enough to simply follow a template. A printed circuit board prototype does many things. It helps engineers and artists see eye-to-eye when advancing our already impressive technological field, saves time on potential errors and creates quality results for businesses and manufacturers to distribute around the world. From the earliest designs in the 1900’s to the results we have today, it’s difficult to know where we’ll even be in the next 30 or 40 years. All we know is that prototype PCB assembly is going to travel with us.