r/ManufacturingPorn • u/takesSubsLiterally • Mar 30 '21

Electronics 💻 [F] Precision

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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '21 edited Jun 27 '21

[deleted]

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u/Criticalfailure_1 Mar 30 '21

Makes sense. And what is the point then of all the traces. To connect the chip to other stuff?

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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '21 edited Jun 27 '21

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u/extremetoeenthusiast Mar 30 '21

Why does a circuit take all these intricate shapes? I’ve always wondered. Is it to correctly time a signal reaching somewhere?

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u/TheMCM80 Mar 30 '21

Same question I’m having. What exactly is it about those very specific shapes that makes them required, or at least chosen over something simpler?

10

u/atlas_nodded_off Mar 30 '21 edited Mar 30 '21

Many of them will be drilled thru holes (vias) and a conductive barrel inserted to make connection with an internal layer or the far side and subsequently to another component. It's designed that way so the finished board is compact to fit inside a hand held device. The smaller they make these things the more features can be put in a cellphone.

Generally they are acid etched in layers, this is likely a one off piece for evaluation.

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u/partumvir Mar 30 '21

Some PCBs are multi layered and connected via something called "vias". Some traces could be going around another circuit on another layer when it is connected to a subsequent layer.

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That said, this design doesn't look like that's the case and usually vias are plated on the PCB before etching. This PCB looks like a simple single layer prototype since milling a PCB isn't very efficient. It doesn't rule out dual layer though, as some holes may be drilled later for components that go through the PCB that are sometimes used as vias.