3D PCB

[prototypingfool]

Is there a service that could make a Printed Circuit board in 3 dimensions? Testing a concept. Can get flexible PCB and put on a fiberglass structure, but would prefer the PCB itself shaped.

thx,

 

[Noway2]

I can't say I fully understand what you mean by a PCB in 3 dimensions. Are you trying to see the internal structures of the PCB? You could ask you PCB manufacturer to make one and not laminate it so that you can have the it as layers of fiberglass with copper.

 

[btrueblood]

Find a shop to make your 3d fiberglass structure, then take it to a plating house, and have them plate desired copper layer thickness. You might want to talk to the plating shop first, to show them what your proposed shape looks like - plating thickness will vary if you have blind cavities or sharp corners, etc. Masking will be the next big problem, probably solvable with a little ingenuity; photo masking techniques will probably work provided you can live with a little variation in trace widths. Etching will be fairly straightforward, with similar cautions taken as with plating, ie. regarding cavitites and sharp corners.

Populating such a thing? Note that surface mount components (i.e. the majority of what is available in silicon these days) won't like being made to bend...

And if all of the above is useless to you, maybe next time you could provide just a _bit_ more information.

 

[MikeHalloran]

I think it was commercialized >30 years ago.
ISTR copper electroplated on injection molded polycarbonate or polysulfone.
At that time, all components were through-hole, so soldering had to be done by hand, or connections had to be mechanical.
ISTR that I found such a circuit in a cheap Polaroid camera, but I'm not really sure.
Folded flex circuits seem more common now, I'm guessing because soldering in the flat is easier, and the tooling to plate a circuit onto a 3D object is expensive, and flex circuit connectors are mature and reliable.




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[sreid]

Depending on how 3D bend you need, Hot PCBs [like directly out of flow solder] are almost as limp as a wet noodle and can easily be bent into a curve that will hold when the board cools.