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الخميس، 15 أغسطس 2013

It Pays To Use PCB Design Services

By Andrea Davidson


Everywhere that a person looks they are confronted by a device which uses electrical power. Most will contain electronic components, but not many people will be aware how these components interact to produce a desired result. Businesses know what they want a product to do, and the smarter businesses will make use of specialist PCB design services.

There are several advantages to doing things in this way. As the name implies these specialist firms are just that. They deal with electronic circuits and nothing else. This saves the initial business having to set up an in-house development team.

Quite often a lot of key issues will be decided during the first meeting. The business will have to fully explain what they want this new product to do, and how they want this to happen. They will also give an indication of how much room the circuitry will have to sit in, and whether there are weight constraints.

When space or weight are limiting factors, it is often decided to utilise a type of circuit board known as surface mount. This is so called because the electronic components are mounted on the surface of the board. The components can be on just one side or both sides, depending on the complexity of the circuit. The components are very small and weigh very little.

The other type of printed circuit board is known as through hole or through board. It is easier to see and identify the components on this type of board. The component body sits on one side of the board, the component legs are passed through the board, and soldered onto metal tracks on the opposite side of the board. As the components are bigger, they will require more room and as expected will weigh more.

As mentioned earlier the dimensions that the populated circuit board has to fit into are very important. This effectively limits the size of the board that the specialists have to work with. They will begin to devise the circuit plan, one important factor being how will the required power get to this newly designed circuit.

The power supply is normally overcome in a couple of different ways. Often wires are used to link the power supply directly to the new circuit board. The other method is to connect the board into a socket, pads will connect the board itself with sprung pins within the socket body, and then on to the metal tracks. It travels via these tracks until it meets the soldered leg of a component, and it will then cause that component to operate.

The voltage itself might be limited, or increased, depending on the component and how it is connected. It could trigger an integrated circuit, or cause a relay to either open or close. As you can imagine the world of electronics can be difficult for the average person to understand.

This is why many businesses feel that it is worthwhile using specialist PCB design services. They understand the ways of the electronic components, and how they can best be utilised. They will endeavour to make the item do what the customer wishes, while at the same time keeping the cost down.




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