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  • Writer's pictureFlex Plus Tech team

Flex plus know-how on Rigid-Flex PCB

Updated: Jul 25

Technical background of Rigid-flex PCB

Flexible circuit boards are favored for their thinness, bendability and foldability, but most Rigid-flex PCB manufacturers still rely on manual visual inspection for quality inspection, which is costly and inefficient. With the rapid development of the electronics industry, Flex PCB and Rigid-flex PCB design are increasingly tending towards high precision and high density. Traditional manual inspection methods of rigid-flex PCB can no longer meet production needs, so automated inspection of Rigid-Flex PCB defects has become an inevitable industry trend.

Flex Plus Rigid-flex PCB osteopathic structure diagram
Flex Plus Rigid-flex PCB osteopathic structure diagram

Structure and challenges of Rigid-Flex PCB

As an electrical connection carrier between hardware devices, the traditional circuit board structure is a rectangular plate-like sheet. However, under different carrier frames, the installation method involves the electrical connection between the frame form and multiple boards. A slight collision may cause the board to desolder, which makes it inconvenient to connect and install multiple boards. In order to solve these problems, Flex Plus provides a special Rigid-flex PCB, which fixes the Flex PCB mechanism through an arc-shaped positioning card, thereby achieving the initial fixed state of the Flex printed circuit board mechanism, the circuit board positioning and adjustment mechanism. So Flex Plus can solve the above problems.


Detailed structure of Flex plus Rigid-flex PCB:

Composition of Rigid-flex PCB

The Rigid-flex PCB includes the Flex printed circuit board (FPCB) mechanism. The Flex PCB (FPCB) mechanism is composed of flex circuit board body, and the edge of the body which has multiple circuit board positioning notches arranged at equal distances.

Multiple Flex printed circuit (FPC) board mechanisms are connected through a circuit board positioning and adjustment mechanism. The mechanism includes a rubber rectangular frame, arc-shaped positioning card plates installed on both sides of the frame, and the card plates which are clamped in the inner cavity of the circuit board positioning notches.


Flex plus Rigid-flex PCB positioning and adjustment mechanism structural diagram
Flex plus Rigid-flex PCB positioning and adjustment mechanism structural diagram

Rigid-flex PCB Structure of the rubber rectangular frame

The rubber rectangular frame is composed of three panels to form a rectangular hollow frame structure.

The interior of the frame is coated with steel bars of the same shape, and a cable with prefabricated pipe section mechanism.

Setting of the arc-shaped positioning clamping plate

Every two adjacent arc-shaped positioning clamping plates are a group, and each group of clamping plates is set in a mirror-symmetrical manner on the horizontal center line of the rubber rectangular frame.

The end of each group of clamping plates is coated with two mutually attractive magnetic blocks.


Flex plus Rigid-flex PCB local structural analysis
Flex plus Rigid-flex PCB local structural analysis

Connection structure of the rubber rectangular frame

The top and bottom of the outer side of the rubber rectangular frame are provided with positioning connection card slots, and the inner wall away from the card slot has a positioning connection card strip. When multiple frames are spliced, the card strip and the card slot remain in a clamping state.

The structure of the cable prefabricated pipe section mechanism

The cable prefabricated pipe section mechanism includes a cable insertion pipe section. The two ends of the cable insertion pipe section are connected with narrow-mouth limiting pipe sections, and the overall shape is from narrow to wide and then to narrow.

The structure of the cable limiting insulating sleeve

Multiple cable limiting insulating sleeves are arranged at equal intervals in the inner cavity of the cable insertion pipe section. The insertion port of the cable limiting insulating sleeve is wide-mouthed and the outlet is narrow-mouthed. The cable limiting insulating sleeve is made of a frustum-shaped rubber structure.


Flex plus Rigid-flex PCB structural analysis
Flex plus Rigid-flex PCB structural analysis

The setting of the rubber stretching ring

The first and second rubber stretching rings are respectively installed at both ends of the cable limiting insulating sleeve. The first rubber stretching ring is the outlet of the cable limiting insulating sleeve, and the second rubber stretching ring is the inlet of the cable limiting insulating sleeve.

The diameter of the second rubber stretching ring is larger than that of the first rubber stretching ring, and the diameter of the first rubber stretching ring is equal to the diameter of the cable.

The fixing method of the rubber stretching ring

The first rubber stretching ring is suspended, and a ring fixing seat is fixed on one side of the second rubber stretching ring, and the fixing seat is installed in the inner cavity of the cable insertion pipe section.

Connecting type connector

A connecting type connector is installed on one side of the rubber rectangular frame, and a torsion spring type connector pin is hinged between the connector and the arc-shaped positioning card.


Rigid-flex PCB

Technical effects and advantages of Rigid-flex PCB

Anti-reverse movement design:

When the wire moves in the opposite direction of the insertion direction, the conical structure of the cable limit insulating sleeve can slightly prevent its reverse movement. In addition, since the wire is usually in a non-linear state, the fit of the first rubber stretch ring can delay the movement of the wire and improve the safety after installation.

Convenient fixing mechanism of Rigid-flex PCB:

After completing the plugging of the cable wire and welding it to the corresponding pins of the Flex PCB mechanism, the initial fixed state of the FPCB mechanism and the circuit board positioning and adjustment mechanism can be achieved through the arc-shaped positioning card. Subsequently, according to the actual layout of multiple Rigid-flex PCB mechanisms, the circuit board positioning and adjustment mechanism is adjusted, and finally the Rigid-Flex PCB mechanism is fixed, which improves the convenience of disassembly, adjustment and fixing.

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