It started early in the 20th century, when an electrician put together the components for what would be the world’s first printed circuit board. The idea behind the circuit board, which at that time was significantly larger than the circuit boards of today, involved pieces on a piece of copper. Electricity would run through it.
That initial invention, likely the result of an initial experiment run by Edison in the late 19th century, led to the progression of the invention in the 1930s during the second World War. Then, an inventor in the United Kingdom put together the first printed circuit board of a smaller size to be used to the fight the Nazis.
The patent was soon released by the military for all the world to use.
The year the military released the patent on the printed circuit board was roughly 1945, just after the end of the war. At that point, printed circuit boards were large and unwieldy, nothing like the printed circuit boards that are so present in televisions and computers seen today.
They have been designed and redesigned with many different components coming into play. The general printed circuit board of today has several principles that are still intact from the original printed circuit boards going back to the times of Edison. They are put together in the next paragraph.
First, printed circuit boards today still use the copper based framework. Copper is an easy tool to have an electric current run through, which makes it a good conductor of electricity for all the different parts within the printed circuit board. The copper was the early invention of Edison. He used it in the initial invention.
The printed circuit board, like the originals, still has parts running through it. Although these parts are significantly smaller than they were back in the 1950s and during the second World War, they are still parts and pieces which electricity runs through when the copper is infused with electricity.
The printed circuit is still crafted, whether by machine or by person. There are people still trained to work on printed circuit boards. Often, they have degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. There are some who operate machinery to make printed circuit boards. They are still crafted and can’t be made through assembly lines.
Although the printed circuit board once was large, so large that it would fit on an entire wall, today the printed board has shrunk in size, small enough to fit inside a computer or a tablet or even a cell phone. The printed circuit board has become small and the components even smaller.
There are some general characteristics about printed circuit boards.
- Board designers use computer-aided design systems with special software to layout the circuit pattern on the board. The spaces between electrical conducting paths are often 0.04 inches (1.0 mm) or smaller.
- Most common multilayer boards are: 4 layers, 6 layers, 8 layers, and 10 layers. However, the total number of layers that can be manufactured can exceed over 42 layers. These types of boards are used in extremely complex electronic circuits.
- Double-sided circuit boards connect the circuits on each side using one of two methods: through-hole technology and surface mount technology.
- Temperature curve plays a critical role in determining soldering quality. Prior to 160C, temperature rising rate should be controlled at 1 to 2 degrees per second. If temperature rises too quickly, on one hand, components and PCB tend to suffer heat too quickly, which tends to destroy components, leading to deformation of PCB.
There are many different terms associated with the printed circuit boards. They include small batch PCB, quick turn PCB assembly, prototype PCB service, prototype assembly, turnkey PCB assembly, circuit board assembly, low volume PCB, turnkey PCB, and more. There are other terms associated with printed circuit boards as well.
The turnkey PCB is a printed circuit board that uses turnkey technology. Turnkey technology is useful in making the turnkey PCB because of its application in different industries, or any industry that uses technology, in the world. The turnkey PCB is helpful in getting things done in the technology world.
The printed circuit board has come a long way since the 1950s when it was first introduced to the public by way of a military release of patent. Read more like this.
