Printed circuit board PCB

Printed circuit board was first developed and invented by British scientist J. A. Sargrove in 1947. Such circuit boards were used by that time in the production of Radio receivers. Latter they became part of everything! Today printed circuit boards are present everywhere. They are essential part of any electronic equipment.

Printed circuit board provides base plate to mount electronic components on and simplify the electrical connections between components effectively. Printed circuits boards are used in computers, clocks, radios, tv, plc, industrial control systems, stereos, cellphones, mobile phones, meter clusters, vfd, soft starter everywhere. Their uses are unlimited and undefined today. An estimate had been made which says till the date circuit boards are manufactured somewhat equal to the size of the earth!

Printed circuit board is made of insulating material plate like fiber glass or acrylic sheet and copper sheet is pasted on the top of it. Then circuit is drawn over the circuit board and wiring is made through etching process. Components are soldered to printed circuit board either on copper side or on the other side through holes. In older days through hole technology was used whereas today surface mount technology is used to solder the components directly on the copper side of the printed circuit board.

Connectors and wires are solders to printed circuit board to make connections to the printed circuit board to outside world. Printed circuit boards provides reliable and effective mean of connections through copper tracks. Printed circuit boards can withstand vibration to some degree. Printed circuit board is the most effective way of mass production electronic items as gadgets. Before printed circuit board mass production was not that easy.

Printed circuit boards can be single layer or multi layers. Multilayer printed circuit boards are used to make complex circuit where a lot of wiring is involved. Single layer printed circuit boards are simple and they are easy to work on them. Mostly single layer printed circuit boards are used where space is not a problem. Also they are used for power electronics as power electronics produces significant heat which is not suitable for multilayer printed circuit boards.