Assembly of Ultrasonic Flex Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for the Medical Industry

To manufacture ultrasonic flex assemblies for a medical industry application, made from polyimide, TCS Electronics used a variety of steps and a wide array of equipment. A custom preparation fixture was used to prepare the panel. After loading the boards in a surface mount technology board carrier, equipping the PCB with surface mount technology, and screen printing, the component underwent inspection, pick and place assembly, and washing.

The panel was tested using Manufacturing Defects Analyzer, and a .0012 inch to .0051 inch conformal coating was applied. Depaneling was conducted using a die cutting press.

The assembly weighed .010 pounds and featured LEDs. The tightest tolerance upheld throughout manufacturing was .030mm.

To ensure the integrity of the assembly many in-process testing procedures were performed, including first piece inspection and manufacturing inspection, as well as quality inspection, where a 20 percent sample of each rack was checked. Critical inspection involved verifying the polarity of the LEDs and ensuring they were straight and flush, and verifying there were no contaminants or solder in critical contact areas. After the conformal coating was inspected, final inspection made sure that all aspects of the PCB matched the client’s drawings and IPC-610 standards. When all aspects of the final inspection were complete, the PCB assembly was packaged in nested, conductive vacuum-formed trays, with 12 boards per tray. The assemblies were then delivered to our client.