Oki Electric Cable Develops "Industry's First" FPC for Three Dimension Wiring
12 June 2008
Maintains desired shape to fit in chassis or other embedded space
Oki Electric Cable Co Ltd announced it is the first in the industry to unveil an FPC that can form and hold a three-dimensional shape. The company said it will offer this "Three-dimensional Flexible Printed Circuit Cable Board (3D FPC)" starting immediately. The 3D FPC will be showcased in the FPC Technology Corner at JPCA (Japan Electronics Packaging and Circuits Association) Show 2008 which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight from June 11 to 13.
As electronic devices become smaller and components more densely packed, to enable wiring in limited spaces, FPCs have become more flexible and less resistant to shaping. In fact, manufacturers have been requesting FPCs that can form a 3D shape to wire inside a chassis or embedded space while maintaining flexibility and low resistance without contacting other components in the device. By using a new material different from that of conventional FPCs, Oki Electric Cable said it responded to this need and succeeded in developing a 3D FPC for complex multi-branch wiring.
"Oki Electric Cable is pleased to announce this industry-first 3D FPC, which has been long awaited by the market. Enabling 3D wiring, such as forming wave patterns or curves, our solution will create new possibilities for new applications in the cable industry as well as the manufacturing industry," said Takashi Hattori, President at Oki Electric Cable. "We will offer this 3D FPC to manufacturers who produce electronic devices, medical equipment, industrial terminals and automobile devices."
With the 3D FPC, users can form any type of shape such as a wave, spiral or a curve, and at whatever angle is desired. By forming a wave pattern or by creating various levels, the FPC can bridge over other components without contacting them directly or can weave between circuits in different levels. In a spiral wiring, the FPC can be moved through 360-degrees to achieve the desired path, offering possibilities for new applications. In addition, by creating curves, the FPC can create new sensor module configurations. Because the same design rules for conventional FPCs can be applied to the 3D FPC, users can design circuits without any new restrictions.
Oki Electric Cable and NOF Corp. jointly developed this 3D FPC by using a graft polymer developed by NOF. The 3D FPC includes advanced electric features (a low induction rate of 2.5, and a dielectric tangent of 0.001), enabling users to create new microwave-class high frequency transmission circuits. This, for example, can help to provide high-resolution imaging in medical equipment such as in monitors used in surgery.
