The Making of a Printed Circuit Board

Printed Circuit Boards or PCBs are the reason why electronic home appliances and everyday use gadgets are becoming more exciting. Printed Circuit Boards or PCBs are the reason behind the appliances becoming smaller, faster and smarter than before. These small boards are generally made up of a non-conductive material that is covered with a thin layer of conductive metal. The board has several markings or etchings that act as pathways for electricity to pass through and reach the components.

The components and the board combine to form the Printed Circuit Boards assembly. The components have their distinct jobs cut out for them as each of them controls a specific function of the appliance or gadget. The easy availability and mass production of Printed Circuit Boards or PCBs combined with the fact that these boards can be made in whatever size- large or miniature is required, make it an amazing invention. 

The construction of a Printed Circuit Boards Assembly has two primary methods. In the first method the construction is carried out through the hole for components. The component leads are inserted into the holes that are designed for the components. This method is called the though-hole construction. The second method is called the surface mount construction in which the components are put on the external surfaces of the Printed Circuit Boards or PCBs.

Both types of construction have component leads which are fixed mechanically as well as electrically to the board through a metal solder. The soldering methods are also numerous with which one can connect the Printed Circuit Boards components to the board that will result in the Printed Circuit Boards assembly.

You will easily find several PCB Supplier on the internet who can mass produce as well create customized boards.

Printed Circuit Boards- A short history

Printed Circuit Boards or PCBs have been instrumental in the development of smarter and lighter electronic appliances. Before the invention of PCBs, a simple computer used to take up the space of a room and the early supercomputers took up several rooms of equipment space. The one thing that a Printed Circuit Board eliminated in electronic appliance is bulk- none of the equipments are bulky anymore and they have become smaller, smarter and far more efficient than others. 

Printed Circuit Boards manufacturing is a multi-billion dollar industry now which has a global reach. The industry was kick started with the invention of PCBs but there is no single inventor. There have been a lot of contributors to the development of the Printed Circuit Boards. 

It has been of the common opinion that PCB assembly started way back in 1903 (More than a hundred years ago) by Albert Hanson, a German Inventor. He hypothesized a flat foil conductor being laminated to an insulating board and on this hypothesis, the great inventor Thomas Alva Edison did an experiment with chemical process of plating conductors on linen paper. 

The next development was done by Arthur Berry in 1913 who patented the print or etching technique on the PCB. Charles Durcase patented the process of electroplating circuit patterns in 1927. These gradual developments led to the final phase in Printed Circuit Board Assembly which is the introduction of the boards in almost every electrical appliance and subsequently led to mass production of the boards. 

The boom in production led several PCB Maker to capitalize on it which subsequently led to the introduction of faster and smarter electronic appliances which had a range of services.