September 3, 2014
Cost savings achieved in multi-layer rigid flex for defibrillators
Background:
PFC received a gerber and drawing package from a medical company that manufactures defibrillators. The requirement was for a 5 layer rigid flex, impedance controlled, assembled with smt components and a through hole connector. Cost was important.
Design:
The reason for choosing a rigid flex design:
- Requirements for components on top and bottom of the circuit
- Stiffened area for smt component mounting
- Multilayer flex to support EMI and impedance requirements
Proposed Solution:
The need for designing a rigid flex is to allow component mounting on both sides of the circuit. In this particular instance, the only component on one side of the circuit was a connector with through-hole solder tails.
PFC recommended a three layer flex with plated through-hole stiffener:
- This allowed smt components to be mounted on one side of the stiffened circuit
- The plated through-hole stiffener allowed PFC to solder the connector from the backside of the stiffener
- The multilayer flex circuit met the impedance and EMI requirements the customer required
Benefits:
- Lowered the number of copper layers from 5 to 3
- Lowered the overall cost by 30%
Contact PFC if you have questions about your flex design.
