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.

Many firms utilise these specialist firms for a variety of reasons. The main one being that it means that they do not have the need to set up their own such department. These firms deal with such tasks daily and have their own team of specialists and technicians.

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.

When confronted by space, or weight, limitations often the solution is to use something known as a surface mount printed circuit board. All this means is that the components are fixed directly onto the surface of one of these boards. They can utilise just one side of the board or both should the need arise. With the components being smaller, a smaller board can be made and so weight is also kept to a minimum.

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 mentioned earlier the dimensions that the populated circuit board has to fit into are very important. This effectively limits the size of the board that the specialists have to work with. They will begin to devise the circuit plan, one important factor being how will the required power get to this newly designed circuit.

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.

Different electronic components operate in different ways. Voltages might be reduced or increased. Relays might be made to open or close, and capacitors could be charged up. It is not surprising that people are confused by electronics, as they cannot actually see these operations taking place.

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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