Flex Circuit Tooling Options
Manufacturing flex circuits and rigid flex involve the use of tooling charges for artwork, die cutting, routing programs, stiffener tooling, drilling, continuity test programs and fixtures, and functionality test.
PFC offers its customers soft/basic tooling for low volume and prototype runs, and hard tooling for larger production runs that require longer tool life or precision tolerances.
The cost of the tooling is dependent on the type and the design of the tooling so careful assessment is very important to prevent quality issues and to minimize the costs.
Outline Die
The highest cost tooling item is, in most cases, the outline die, which cuts the individual circuits from the fabricated panel of circuits. Routing is used in lower volume applications. The outline die choice is dependent on the assembly of the circuit. Is the circuit assembled in full panel form, partial panel form, or individual circuits? Will the circuit be hand assembled or is surface mount technology being used?
Test Fixtures
At PFC we test all flex circuits during the manufacturing process (AOI, cross sections, coupon testing) and after the circuit is complete with an additional 100% complete electrical test. For low volume circuits we will use a flying probe test fixture. For higher volume circuits we will create a custom continuity test program. If PFC does the assembly of the circuits, we will provide a full functional test of the assembly.
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Examples of Tooling Requirements
Soft / Basic
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Artwork
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Drill and routing programs
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Steel rule die for the outline
- + or – 0.010”, life 10k punches, min radii 0.030”
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Flying probe test program
Hard or High Precision Tooling
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High definition artwork
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Chemically milled dies
- + or – 0.003”, life 40k punches, min radii 0.020”
- Male / female hard dies
- + or - 0.002”, life 100K, min radii 0.010”, $$$
- Electrical test fixtures
- Forming fixtures
- Assembly fixtures
- Functional test fixtures
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