Polyimide flex circuits, cables, and heaters designed and manufactured by Fralock are critical components for major OEM’s in technically advanced markets. We provide high-precision single and multi-layer fine-pitch flex and rigid-flex circuits where applications require interconnections in a compact package. Our All-Polyimide flex solutions are smaller, lighter, and can seamlessly integrate into almost any form you need.
Fralock builds flex circuits and heaters to your exact specifications with predictable performance. High-reliability rigid-flex circuits, which combines a flex circuit with a rigid conductor such as a connector or a circuit board, can be found in applications ranging from medical devices to aircraft guidance systems. With a low profile, compact outline, bendable capability, and low weight, Fralock flex and rigid-flex circuits are commonly used in a wide variety of industries.
Our flexible heaters feature etched metal tracings between two sheets or strips of polyimide material. These thermofoil heaters are ideal for applications that require complex shapes and contours, as well as those with tight space and weight constraints.
Fralock’s etched foil cables can be folded without affecting performance. Our capabilities include production of flex circuits and heaters without any adhesives, using our Adhesiveless Lamination Technology (ALT)™. Eliminating the need for adhesives also enables tolerance to a wider range of temperatures, from -269° to 250° Celsius (-452° to 478° Fahrenheit) and renders them about 30 percent thinner and lighter, saving space and labor costs. ALT Dura™ flex products are flex circuits and heaters made using ALT technology.
Our flex circuit manufacturer services include consignment, quick-turn, prototyping, production, and complete turnkey builds.
Superior performance is achieved with Fralock polyimide flex and rigid-flex circuits, flex cables and heaters.
The flexible circuit has just recently come of age as an interconnection device, although it was originally developed about fifty years ago.
Designers of applications from car stereos and cameras to heart pacemakers and disk drives, have all reaped the benefits of flex circuits. More applications are being discovered every day.
The flexible circuit was originally designed as a replacement for bulky wire harnesses. Simple circuit designs helped to solve space and weight problems that could not be resolved using traditional wiring methods.
As technology advanced in leaps and bounds, new products required more compact packaging, minutely defined electrical impedances, and error-free product performance. Flexible circuitry gave the package engineer ways to miniaturize circuits, increase functional capacity, and improve reliability.
In addition to being flexible, flex circuits can be designed to meet highly complex special configurations, and hostile operating environments are easily withstood by flex.
New products demand savings in space and weight with greater reliability. Because of these demands, the twenty-year-old technology of flexible circuits has come of age.
A basic flexible circuit is made of a flexible polymer film laminated to a thin sheet of copper that is etched to produce a circuit pattern.
Patterns can be created on both sides of the film. Interconnections are achieved with plated through-holes, yielding an almost unlimited adaptability between various component parts. A polymer overcoat is often added to insulate and environmentally seal the circuit.
Flexible circuits can also combine several single- or double-sided circuits with complex interconnections, shielding, and surface mounted devices in a multi-layer design. These multi-layer designs can also be combined with rigid circuit boards to create a rigid-flex circuit capable of supporting devices as needed.
The most widely used polyimide film is DuPontTM KAPTON®, because of its high heat resistance, dimensional stability, dielectric strength, and flexural capability. The characteristics of this raw material help the flex circuit maintain a high degree of durability and help it survive hostile environments.
One thing that flexible circuits and rigid printed circuit boards have in common is that they both allow repeatable connections. Conductor routings in a flexible circuit are determined just like a rigid PC board by a single artwork, rather than by individual wirings.
Flexible circuits also allow extra-fine lines, as low as 2 mils on 4-mil centers, allowing high-density device population and reduced circuit size and weight.
But flexible circuits have one important advantage over rigid PC boards in that they give designers a third dimension with which to work. Flexible circuits can bend and shape around two or more planes during installation. They can solve space and weight problems by replacing several bulky boards with a single thin one. While in use, flexible circuits can also bend and flex up to 500 million times without a failure. This is something a rigid PC board simply cannot do.
Advances in surface mount technology, mounting devices directly on circuits, have led to exceptional space and cost savings. Kapton’s excellent thermal stability provides a better base for surface mounting than hard boards. Because the compliant base film places less stress on soldered joints, thermal mismatch is less likely to occur.
With conductive adhesives, surface mount chips can be mounted on double-sided flex circuits. This eliminates the problem of soldering one device on a hard board, then soldering again on the other side, disturbing the previous connection.
Tape automated bonding (TAB) is another space-saving technology for which flex is ideal. Because KAPTON film can be etched so accurately, windows can be placed on the flex circuit to hold devices. The devices can then he soldered into place with TAB.
Rigid/flex combinations are perhaps the fastest growing flexible circuit designs. These hybrids combine the best features of rigid boards with the design flexibility of flexible circuits. These rigid/flex boards provide a higher component density and improved quality control. Designs can be rigid where support for components is needed, and flex around corners and in areas requiring extra space.
Another new flex circuit technology is called Bend/flex. Made of a copper-clad glass-polyester epoxy laminate, Bend/flex is a kind of flexible circuit that bends once to form to designs yet maintains its rigidity. Bend/flex can support electronic components without stiffeners and can allow auto-insertion of components before bending into its final shape.
Available in thicknesses of 15, 20, and 30 mils, Bend/flex can be drilled, blanked, plated, pierced, and wave soldered on one or both sides. It can replace mother/daughter board combinations or even rigid/flex combinations in some designs.
Advancements in the design of application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) have helped flex become commonplace in many consumer electronics like cameras, computers, and home entertainment.
The benefits of flexible circuits are realized in most every application requiring high volume or high degree of accuracy.
In high volume applications, highly automated fabrication methods reduce human handling of the circuits, reducing both cost and probability of error. Applications like cameras, printers, disk drives, and automotive panels all benefit from high volume flex efficiency.
High accuracy circuits for aerospace and medical applications benefit from the flex circuit’s ability to handle ultra-fine lines and tight tolerances in an age of miniaturization.
Flexible circuits have been incorporated into several industries throughout the years including:
There are three basic types of flexible circuits, varying in degrees of complexity. These three types of circuits can be used in different combinations to solve most every interconnection design problem.
Multilayer circuits are the ideal problem-solving technology when confronted with design challenges like unavoidable crossovers, specific impedance requirements, elimination of crosstalk in sensitive circuits, additional shielding or ground planes, and high component density.
In designing a flexible circuit, it is essential to consult a flexible circuit expert early in the design process. Flexible circuit manufacturers are not just production lines. They are manufacturing consultants and experts in the field of flexible circuitry.
Before beginning your flex design, examine your product requirements thoroughly. Know all the electrical requirements, dimensional restrictions, and assembly limitations. Consult flex circuit design guides throughout the design process to take full advantage of design trade-offs and improvements.
Start designing your flex circuit early, preferably as you start the design of your product. There are many variables in the design of a flex circuit. Conductor spacing, component addressing, designing for bend areas, and covercoat configuration and shielding must all be determined before your first prototype is produced.
By contacting a flex specialist early in the design process, you can get qualified design assistance, and be sure all design factors have been considered. A flex specialist can also check designs for manufacturability and even suggest design improvements for cost savings and improved performance. A prototype of the circuit should be built as soon as possible to allow time for design improvements. A prototype also helps your flex specialist further evaluate his ability to produce the design for you. At Fralock, we can rush these prototypes to you in as fast as 24 hours.
Remember that the flexible circuit manufacturer is essentially a design and manufacturing service organization.
