Revolutionising ERP
26 June 2009
A multifunctional PCB, integrating sensor and evaluation electronics, has passed initial customer production release tests.
Würth Elektronik has integrated cantilevers that operate as a sensor in a PCB, allowing for new industrial applications. This technological innovation has been made possible due to an in-house conductive polymer, such as a thick film polymer paste, enabling the necessary application intelligence structured into a specific designed PCB.
This solution is characterised by a high potential of technical innovations. It is suited to numerous customised applications, including allocation and identification tools in ERP systems.
Current cantilevers are limited to simple functions, such as pure force measurement, but Würth has upgraded this technology. By means of resistive strain gauges printed on the PCB, and integrated sensor and electronics on board, the new cantilever replaces the weaknesses of traditional capacitive sensors for allocation systems, such as insufficient robustness against environmental conditions.
Due to this robustness, the cantilever with polymer strain gauge is suitable for applications that are subject to special demands in terms of temperature, humidity, industrial climate and similar.
These cantilevers, which can be integrated into any PCB type (double-sided, multilayer, HDI, or flex-rigid), are commonly used as short stroke sensors and force indicating devices, as well as making integrated pressure sensors possible.
The special technique of embedding the polymer hybrid as a screen-printed, passive component inside internal layers of a PCB, provides a level of high packing density combined with reliable connections to conductive traces never previously experienced.
The crucial factor to this further integration level is the in-house developed and secret conductive plastic paste with (up until now) unknown new features. By applying new conductive and other polymer types with targeted electrical characteristics, Würth succeeded in printing passive components on board and integrating sensors inside the PCB. This technology enables the development of customised solutions, which, among other items, reduce space and volume as well as production efforts at a considerable extent. Development time and costs are reduced while simultaneously improving the end application robustness.
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