Flex Circuit Assemblies: Turnkey, Connectorized PCB Solutions

Flex Circuit, Rigid Flex Circuit, PCBA, and Optical Flex Assemblies

IPC-6012/6013 CLASS III, TYPES 1–4

PCB/Flex Circuit Assemblies are an alternative to standard wire or ribbon cable in electrical wire interconnect systems. Designed to reduce size and weight — and improve reliability — Flexible Printed Circuits (FPC) utilize thin layers of polymer film as a dielectric sandwiched between conductive circuit patterns etched into layers of copper foil cladding. After connectorization, these low-profile, lightweight assemblies may be installed directly within an electronic equipment housing as a turnkey sub-assembly.

Glenair PALS Approved Interconnect Technologies reduce assembly process-time and skilled labor requirements in EWIS applications.

Replacing Complicated Wire Bundle Assemblies with High-Density Flex Circuit Assemblies Assures Faster, Error-Free LRU Assembly

Single-sided, double-sided, and multilayer flex circuitry
Flex, rigid flex, and PCBA board assemblies
Through-hole and surface-mount connector terminations
Turnkey catalog jumper assemblies
Fairway-Flex long-length flex circuit assemblies

Turnkey connectorized flex, rigid flex, and rigid PCB assemblies incorporating Glenair's broad range of innovative small form-factor circular and rectangular PC-tail connector solutions. All terminations backpotted for compliance with conformal coating processes.

Space-grade Series 28 HiPer-D to Series 80 Mighty Mouse I/O jumper: a tight space-constrained rectangular-to-circular solutionSpace-grade Micro-D flex assembly with NASA EEE-INST-002 screeningFlex circuit assemblies are ideal for space-constrained electronic packages and enclosures, or for interconnect systems that are required to flex in 3 axes during normal use. Flex circuitry offers complete freedom to design boards and wiring for even the most densely-packed electronic enclosures. In mission-critical applications, the ability to reduce or even eliminate discrete wiring and boards in favor of flex circuitry helps designers make the most efficient use of available space.

Overview: Flex Circuit Assemblies

Flex, Rigid Flex, and Rigid PCB Assemblies with Glenair Signature Electrical and Optical Interconnects

Service Form

Glenair Integrated PCB-Flex Design Service Form

PCB/Flex Capabilities Presentation

Calculators

Differential Stripline Impedance Calculator Uses Wadell's equations to determine the differential impedance of symmetric striplines.
PCB Trace Width Calculator Javascript web calculator calculates the trace width for printed circuit boards based on a curve fit to IPC-2221 (formerly IPC-D-275).

Flex Circuit Assemblies: Turnkey, Connectorized PCB Solutions

Flex Circuit, Rigid Flex Circuit, PCBA, and Optical Flex Assemblies – in stock I/O-to-Board Flex Jumper Assemblies

eBook
PDF (Two-page spreads)
PDF (Single pages, print friendly)

Flex and Rigid-Flex Circuit Assemblies

Glenair QwikConnect Magazine • July 2022 • Volume 26 • Number 3

eBook
PDF (Two-page spreads)
PDF (Single pages, print friendly)
Chris Toomey's Outlook Column: Force Multiplier

	Flex, Rigid Flex, and Rigid PCB Assemblies with Glenair Signature Electrical and Optical Interconnects Turnkey connectorized flex, rigid flex, and rigid PCB assemblies incorporating Glenair’s broad range of innovative small form-factor circular and rectangular PC-tail connector solutions. All terminations backpotted for compliance with conformal coating processes. Optical and electrical solutions. Special long-length assemblies up to 12 feet. Flex and Rigid Flex Specification Standards / Design Options, Flex, Rigid Flex, and Rigid PCB Glenair flex and rigid-flex manufacturing formats and specifications. Glenair recommends commercial customers specify IPC-6012/6013 standards of workmanship which are fully supported by Glenair. Military customers may alternatively cite specifications IAW MIL-PRF-31032. Properly designed flex and rigid-flex assemblies offer significant space and weight savings compared to wire harnesses. Many design options are available, including integrated stiffeners, shielding, factory forming, selective bonding, termination, layer count and so on. High Fiber Count, Small Form-Factor Optical Flex Circuits for Rugged Defense, Aerospace, and Space Applications Ecosystem includes high-data-rate parallel optic transceivers, MTP®/MPO transceiver interface connectors, turnkey fiber optic breakout cables, and ruggedized MT ferrule-equipped I/O connectors — circular and rectangular. Glenair Fairway-Flex™ — Long-Length Flexible Printed Circuit Assemblies, 3 to 8 feet Long-length, space- and mil-aero grade flexible printed circuit solution incorporating Glenair’s broad range of innovative small form-factor circular and rectangular PC-tail connectors. Rectangular and Circular PC-tail connectors potted, sealed, and conformal-coating compatible. Space and Mil-Aero Grade MT Fiber Optic Connectors Lightweight, small form-factor MT fiber optics in Glenair Signature SuperNine® and Series 79 connectors: The aerospace-grade I/O connector solution for use with Glenair parallel optical transceivers and MT optical flex circuits. SolidWorks Modeling · 3D Printed Prototyping Typical Design and Production Process AlphaLink® SL Flex Jumpers — Point-to-Point Jumper Selection Guide Compact point-to-point assemblies that combine lightweight flex circuitry with Glenair signature I/O and board-level connectors. These turnkey jumper assemblies reduce system size and weight while accelerating assembly qualification and test of aerospace avionics and other mission-critical electronic systems. Product Lab: Flex, Rigid Flex, and Rigid PCB Assemblies Glenair Integrated PCB/Flex assembly production facilities are operated in accordance with commercial and military standards. Staff includes 200+ PCB and cable assemblers with J-STD-001 Space certification for special processes and ESD management.
	Optical Flex Circuit Assemblies with High-Density MT Ferrule Terminations and Glenair Signature or M29504 F/O Breakouts Discrete optical harness assemblies and breakouts Shuffle circuits On-board (inter/intra-board) optical flex circuits Optical backplanes Turnkey PhotonicFlex integrated assemblies
	3-D Modeling and Rapid Prototyping XPedition Software with Rigid Flex License Modeling and 3-D Print Rapid Prototyping Solidworks 3-D Prototyping: "Virtual" Connector Modifications 3-D Modeling for Connectorized Integrated Flex Circuit Systems Glenair Integrated PCB/Flex Engineering: From 'Napkin Sketch' Concept to Design
	In-House Connector Manufacture, Assembly, and Test Printed circuit board I/O connectors for rugged applications—made in America and in-stock Rectangular and circular form factors, including MIL-DTL-38999, Series 80 Mighty Mouse, MIL-DTL-24308, MIL-DTL-83513, and others Fully back-potted and sealed for ease-of-assembly, washout, and Parylene compatibility Innovative wire-to-board terminations including surface mount, spring contact, compliant pin, and others
	Connectorized Flex Circuit Assemblies Point-to-point or multibranch connectorized jumpers Flexible, repeatable routing for complex 3-dimensional installations Save size, weight, and improve density compared to wire bundles Broadest range of high-performance I/O and board connectors Optimized reliability: high-speed, high temp, high shock and vibe
	Rigid Board Assemblies Rigid substrate assemblies for rugged durability and performance Hard-mount points for connectors and surface-mount components Ideally suited for double-sided component mounting Superior performance in high shock and vibe applications
	Rigid Flex Circuit Assemblies "Best of both worlds" combines durable rigid-board architecture with flex circuitry for double-sided component mounting and easy/flexible circuit routing 3-D vibration-resistant flex routing advantage plus hard mount points and stiffeners as required Integration of active componentry with flex circuitry
	Glenair Integrated Flex Circuit Assemblies: A Unique Value Proposition Connector Manufacturing Glenair is a vertically-integrated operation, with over 1 million square feet of engineering and manufacturing space in the United States, Mansfield U.K., and Bologna Italy. Only Glenair, amongst the many suppliers of Flex and Rigid Flex Circuit assemblies, offers such a broad range of high-reliability printed circuit board connectors of our own design and manufacture — including thousands of Mil-qualified and commercial I/O and PCB termination solutions. Glenair is IPC 610, ISO 9001 and AS9100 certified. Board Manufacturing Glenair offers IPC Class III manufacturing, up to 8 layers on flex and 26+ layers on rigid and rigid flex, multiple panel sizes and panel thicknesses up to .5 inch. A broad variety of materials are available for PCB/Flex fabrication, including Polyimide, FR-4, Rogers 4003, and Isola. Available surface finishes include ENIG, HASL, Ni/Au and more. Turnkey Validation Testing and Production Delivery Glenair's in-house capability can meet every requirement, from a single piece to large production orders. All flex circuit assemblies are terminated, tested, and packaged in our in-house production lab.

Dupont or Panasonic Flex Circuit Assembly Materials

Glenair uses Dupont or Panasonic materials in our turnkey flex circuit assemblies in accordance with IPC 4204A/11.

Dupont - Pyralux® AP Copper-Clad Laminate

DuPont™ Pyralux® AP is an all polyimide double sided copper clad laminate that is the industry standard in terms of thermal, chemical and mechanical properties. It is ideal for use in rigid flex and multilayer flex applications which require advanced performance, such as low dissipation loss for high speed, high frequency, thermal resistance and high reliability. These clads provide designers and fabricators outstanding options in building circuits with high reliability and yield for controlled impedance and high-performance applications.

Panasonic - Felios Flex - Adhesiveless Flexible Laminates

Panasonic Felios is the ideal choice for technically advanced multi-layer, rigid-flex, double and single-sided applications. Felios Flex is an engineered, all polyimide substrate with premium copper foil bonded on either one or two sides.

Flex Circuit Assemblies: Turnkey, Connectorized PCB Solutions

Flex Circuit, Rigid Flex Circuit, PCBA, and Optical Flex Assemblies

IPC-6012/6013 CLASS III, TYPES 1–4

Replacing Complicated Wire Bundle Assemblies with High-Density Flex Circuit Assemblies Assures Faster, Error-Free LRU Assembly

Turnkey connectorized flex, rigid flex, and rigid PCB assemblies incorporating Glenair's broad range of innovative small form-factor circular and rectangular PC-tail connector solutions. All terminations backpotted for compliance with conformal coating processes.

Overview: Flex Circuit Assemblies

Service Form

Calculators

Flex, Rigid Flex, and Rigid PCB Assemblies with Glenair Signature Electrical and Optical Interconnects

3-D Modeling and Rapid PrototypingXPedition Software with Rigid Flex License

In-House Connector Manufacture, Assembly, and Test

Connectorized Flex Circuit Assemblies

Rigid Board Assemblies

Rigid Flex Circuit Assemblies

Glenair Integrated Flex Circuit Assemblies: A Unique Value Proposition

Connector Manufacturing

Board Manufacturing

Turnkey Validation Testing and Production Delivery

Dupont or Panasonic Flex Circuit Assembly Materials

3-D Modeling and Rapid Prototyping
XPedition Software with Rigid Flex License