Insulectro Flex Materials Showcase Offers Tips for Technologists

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Insulectro continues its drive to educate PCB designers about the ins and outs of advanced flex materials. On Sept. 19, the company hosted an all-day seminar on flexible and printed electronic materials at its San Jose, Calif., facility.

The event kicked off with a presentation by Dave Rosenfeld, a technical fellow at Celanese, which acquired DuPont’s mobility and materials business last year. Dave focused on designing flexible heaters with positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thick film inks. With PTC inks, resistance increases as temperatures rise, so someone who’s wearing a jacket with a flexible heater will not get burned when the device is set on high.

DuPont’s Greg Roettger discussed the hundreds of iterations of Kapton®, the first polyimide invented by DuPont in the 1960s. He noted that some type of Kapton was used on every NASA mission to the Moon and Mars, as well as the James Webb Space Telescope.

Insulectro’s Chris Hunrath detailed some of the recent advances in rigid-flex technologies, such as no-flow pre-preg and lead-free rigid-flex materials. He also offered tips for working with rigid-flex bookbinders, which increase the length of traces away from the bend radius, thus releasing pressure on other traces, helping to avoid buckling.

Breakfast was provided, and lunch came courtesy of a great Mexican food truck. After the presentations, we enjoyed a little beer, wine, and conversation. Insulectro has been holding these seminars for years, and they draw a good audience every time. 

Article photo credit: Tobey Marsicovetere, I-Connect007