Understanding what a printed circuit board design is ?

Printed circuit boards are an integral part of any kind of electronic component or gadget. And these electronic devices have blended in with our lives so well that we do not even realize how important they have become not only for our convenience but also our survival. This flourishing industry of electronics has reached out to every other form of industry and technology. For e.g. the revolution in medical science, aero space technology, military and automobile industry, the applications are countless. In fact the electronics industry has been supporting all other forms of industries to advance to new technologies.

We are surrounded by hundreds of electronics devices everyday and each of these devices has a printed circuit board at its heart. So what is a printed circuit board or PCB? It’s basically a non conducting substrate sheet which has copper tracks etched on it and these tracks converge at different junctions and nodes. The basic purpose of a PCB is to connect various electronic components through the conducting path ways designed on the board. Also it provides physical support to the components.

A PCB is primarily of two types. One is the through-hole PCB where tiny holes are punched in on the nodes where the component lead goes across the board and they are soldered on the opposite side. It is an old technology and still in use for inexpensive circuitry applications. One other use of these boards is to support extremely bulky components like transformers and high rating capacitors.

The other type of PCB is the onboard SMD PCB or surface mounted device PCB. It does not have holes instead it has small conducting beds where the tiny SMD components are placed and soldered using special equipments. It has higher mechanical strength and both sides can be used for components as there are no holes. Also because the SMD are so tiny that the circuits can be miniaturized.

It is very crucial that the printed circuit board design is very precise and of high quality so that the finished product is also of high quality. This is why designing of theses boards is a very expert job and requires a lot of research and development to make sure there are no flaws in it. Many large and small companies who manufacture electronic components leave this job in the good hands of the experts and outsource it to them. All they need to do is provide them with the required specifications.

One of the biggest advantages of availing PCB designing services is that you can get parts in bulk at drastically reduced costs and you can be assured of the quality of the products they are delivering at your door step. It is usually accompanied with proper documentation of all the technical specifications and 

since  printed circuit board design is one of the most crucial aspect of the PCB manufacturing, only the most reliable and trusted supplier of these board should be hired. Conducting a proper research before hiring PCB manufactures is a must thing to do.