Carrera specialise in the design of flexible and flexi-rigid circuits. These circuits require a specialised approach to their design and Carrera provide the design service to many leading UK manufacturers.

These circuits represent the ultimate connection system and can offer great space and weight savings. Due to their flexiblity, components can be orientated in a number of different planes thereby eliminating additional connectors and wiring. Flexible circuits normally have just one or two tracking layers as they become far less flexible as the layer count incerases. With careful design and consideration of the production techniques required, Carrera are able to offer designs of up to 16 layers, without significant loss in flexibilty.

Some areas of the PCB may require rigidised areas to mount components and again Carrera offer several techniques to make this possible without increasing the layer count and costs. Rigid sections can also be used to control where bends in the flex will occur.

The most common use of flexible circuits is to replace the conventional wiring used within a product. There are a number of advantages to using flexible circuits over conventional wiring; they are lighter, occupy less space, take significantly less time to assemble and each circuit is consistantly error free. Surface Mount or Conventional components can also be fitted directly onto the circuit. Design features can be introduced to simulate overall or individual wire screens or twisted pairs. The stable substrates make them ideal in situations where track impedance needs to be carefully controlled. Their ability to cope with extremes of temperature make them suitable for harsh enviroments.

We are pleased to offer advice on the suitability of flex circuits in your target application, why not give us a call to discuss your requirements.