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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

It Pays To Use PCB Design Services

By Andrea Davidson


Life in the modern world would be more difficult were it not for technology. This technology is powered by electrical energy, which is conducted through electronic components to produce a desired end result. The mystery lies in what the electronic components do, and this baffles most people. A business with an idea for a new product knows what they want it to do, but to make it happen they call upon a firm offering 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.

If the space is limited then the printed circuit board will probably be of the type known as surface mount. The electronic components are mounted on the surface of the circuit board. The circuitry can either be single sided or dual sided. The components on this type of board are much smaller, and as a consequence take up less room and have less of a weight impact.

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 previously mentioned the available space is all important, as this will let the specialist firm know how small they have to make the circuit board. From the list of requirements that the customer wishes the product to do, the circuit can be drawn up. This will also include getting power to the new circuitry.

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.

This might reduce the voltage so that it is safe to operate an integrated circuit further on in the circuit design. It might open or close a relay to allow power to halt or to flow elsewhere. It might need to build up to a certain level before it can be released. The field of electronics can be quite complex at times.

As a consequence a lot of businesses do use specific firms who offer PCB design services for this reason. They are fully aware of how these components can be used to their full potential. Not only will they come up with a circuit which fulfills the client's wishes, but it will also be a cost effective as they can make it.




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