FPC Antenna Assembly (English)

Title: Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) Antenna Assembly

Summary: Manual and automated assembly of a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) Antenna onto a moulded plastic carrier.

Headline: Assembly Process of a Flexible Printed Circuit Antenna onto a Carrier

Subhead: TE is proud to illustrate both the manual and the automated assembly process of a flexible printed circuit antenna onto a carrier.

Transcript:

View the manual assembly process

The manual assembly starts with the FPC bending process, which is divided into two stages. Shown here is Stage 1 where a specific bend is performed…
…after which the part is handed off to Stage 2, where the bending process of the assembly is complete.
Next, we see the attachment of the FPC to the carrier. First, the adhesive backing is removed, and then the carrier is attached to the FPC.
At this final stage, the carrier and FPC assembly are placed in the press, where they are held under pressure to assure that a proper FPC to carrier adhesion is achieved.

View the automated assembly process

Here we see the first stage of the automation process. The FPCs are hand-placed onto the jigs. The jigs move the FPCs into position to be picked and placed onto the automation table.
Next up are the two, FPC bending stages. Each stage performs a specific bend to the FPC.
At this stage, the FPC adhesive backing is removed, in preparation for attaching the carrier onto the FPC.
All carriers are placed into a barrel, which automatically feeds the line with carriers. A feeding line moves the carriers into position, to be placed onto the FPCs.
Once in place, the carrier is attached onto the FPC.
We then see the carrier and FPC assembly being moved to the hold under pressure portion of the automation process. Each part is held under pressure for a determined amount of time to assure proper adhesion between the FPC and the carrier is achieved.
At final stage of the automated process, the parts are picked from the press and hold jig to the storage trays.