A Basic Introduction to Stiffeners PCB

Stiffener PCB

Stiffeners PCB is also called reinforcing PCB and reinforcing rib. Mainly used in construction, oil pipelines, mechanical equipment, electronic products, etc. It is widely used in flexible PCB in electronic products. The stiffeners PCB mainly solves the flexibility of the flexible PCB, improve the strength of the plug-in part and facilitates the overall assembly of the product. Stiffeners PCB has stable electrical insulation performance, good flatness, smooth surface, no pits and standard thickness tolerance. It is suitable for products with high-performance electronic insulation requirements.

The stiffeners PCB mainly include stainless steel stiffeners PCB, aluminum foil stiffeners PCB, polyester stiffeners PCB, polyimide stiffeners PCB and glass fiber stiffeners PCB.

Stainless Steel Stiffeners PCB:

It is not easy to deform, has high strength and can play a role in conduction and induction. For example, the reinforcing steel sheet on the back of the gold finger is used to increase the hardness and thickness, which is easy to pull out and insert. The thickness of FPC steel reinforcement is generally 0.1mm, 0.12mm, 0.15mm, 0.18mm, 0.2mm, 0.25mm, 0.3mm, etc. FPC steel reinforcement materials are stainless steel 304, 301 and so on. FPC steel reinforcement is used in mobile phones, video phones, laptop computers, aerospace, medical equipment, digital cameras, automotive instruments and other pressing modules or FPC of the link components of liquid crystal sheets and is mostly used in mobile phone cameras.

Aluminum foil Stiffeners PCB:

It is generally used in parts with high heat dissipation requirements, such as desk lamps and LED lamps, which are anodized and have a variety of colors.

Polyester Stiffeners PCB:

Polyester stiffeners PCB are commonly used in thicknesses of 125μm, 150μm, 155μm, 160μm, 165μm, 175μm, 180μm, 188μm, 223μm, 225μm, 228μm, 250μm, 282μm, 300μm, 350μm, etc.; commonly used in parts without welded parts. 

Polyimide Stiffeners PCB:

Polyimide has high-temperature resistance and is often used on FPC boards with soldered components.

Fiberglass Stiffeners PCB:

Fiberglass also called FR-4 or FR4, is divided into high-temperature resistant FR4, flame retardant FR4, ablation resistant FR4, high strength FR4, high toughness FR4 and antistatic FR4.

Bottom Line

PCB stiffeners enable the flex circuit to function more effectively and go through the assembly process flawlessly. There is a wide range of possible combinations with various types of PCB stiffeners depending on the end design. If you are not certain how PCB stiffeners will work with your flex printed circuit board design, make sure to contact us directly. Our specialist will go into detail about the process and discuss using PCB stiffeners effectively.