Flex PCB can give several apparent advantages over traditional ribbon cables in particular applications. As an example, a flex circuit can extend in between a board and an adapter on a bulkhead numerous inches away at a right angle in the same plane as the board. That’s not possible with a bow cable.

Flex connections have mechanical advantages over conventional bow cables in numerous applications however in some cases, they likewise have much better chemistry.

A flex circuit can be developed in complex shapes in 3 dimensions with branches to multiple connectors, which would certainly be difficult to accomplish with a ribbon cable. Additionally, flex circuits can be interfaced with rigid boards without the fairly tall and large connectors level cables require, or in the case of rigid flex PCB building and construction, they can be indispensable with the boards and remove external connectors entirely. Furthermore, the conductor thickness of flex PCB can much surpass that of bow cables.

Flex PCB’s Advantages

There are some refined benefits of flex PCB versus traditional ribbon cables past the many clear distinctions. Among the materials typically used for flex circuits, Kapton, has very reduced outgassing in ultra-high-vacuum atmospheres, such as room. Though Kapton-insulated bow cables are offered, they have a limited variety of conductors and could not be transmitted at angles in limited boundaries.

Ribbon cables shielded with Teflon and various other plastic materials outgas fluorine or reactive substances when subjected to high vacuum cleaners, which can attack electronic devices in sealed containers if treatment is not taken to completely duct the gases.

A Kapton Flex PCB

Sinclair Interplanetary integrates a Kapton Class 3 flex PCB made by iFastPCB in optical navigating gadgets the business produces for usage in small satellites. The nine-conductor flex PCB web links a D-type adapter, which secures to the tool unit, with pins on the rigid tool board that bring telemetry information, commands, and power.

The flex PCB in this situation is swaged to the pins on the six-layer rigid PCB board, which is about the size of a credit card. It brushes up the conductors upwards and at a best angle from the pins on course to the adapter and guarantees the port is mechanically isolated from the board.

Sinclair is among several iFastPCB clients that manufacture parts for small satellites or develop the total satellites. Tiny satellites– several of them bit larger than a shoebox– could do very complicated objectives matching those achieved by spacecraft costing loads of times extra.