Printing Electronic Circuits on a Standard Flexo Press

Printing Electronic Circuits on a Standard Flexo Press

Printing electronic circuits on a Flexo press requires a high degree of precision in applying multiple layers of substrates. Best results are typically obtained by having a press equipped with a re-register and servo infeed system. This fact would seem to exclude the owner of a standard press from the profits of this type of work. However, that is not the case. Printing electronic circuits on a standard Flexo press is possible with the use of an easily attached servo upgrade such as the Servo 3000 Digital Infeed + Re-register system made by Rotary Technologies. With the Servo 3000 the owner of a standard Flexographic press can enter the profitable high tech world of flexible electronic circuits. He can do this for a mere fraction of the cost of a new high end $250,000 to $1,000,000 servo press.

Flexible Printed Circuits

The range of possible electronic circuit applications for which Flexo printing can be used include items as simple as car seat heaters and rear window defrosters and progress to RFID "chips" as well as touch pads and touch screens. By printing electronically conductive inks on a flexible substrate the press can lay down a set of layers of conductors and insulators that are typically sandwiched between two "polarizing" layers. The advantage of using Flexographic printing for making electronic circuits is that product can be produced by the kilometer. The challenge for printing these circuits is that for the circuit to work the several layers need to be lined up quite precisely. The more complicated the circuit is the more precise the printing typically needs to be. As the printer progresses to increasingly sophisticated circuits the lines become finer and the spaces between lines become quite narrow. This requires a degree of precision only found with a precise infeed and re-register system on a servo driven press.

Substrates and Inks for Printing Circuits on a Flexo Press

Commonly used flexible substrates for printing electronic circuits on a Flexo press include polyester and polyimide films. There are a variety of electrically conductive inks including those containing silver or carbon as well as conductive polymers. Which of these is used varies with the job.

Getting the Job Right when Printing Electronic Circuits with a Flexo Press

It is critical to bring the press into register in as short a time as possible when printing electronic circuits. The fastest possible is one length of the press which requires a servo system. When printing multiple layers, it also critical to print at high resolution. When doing this sort of work it is more profitable to print at full press speed as the profit is in the volume, providing that waste is controlled. Using a servo add on such as the Servo 3000, the system re-registers the web from the first pass and allows the press to print at 0.0025" resolution at full press speed for subsequent passes. This resolution is less than 70 microns and is near the limit which any Flexo press can obtain today.

Entering the World of Electronic Circuits

Investing in the Servo 3000 Digital Infeed + Re-register system made by Rotary Technologies will allow the owner of a standard Flexo press to enter the world of printing electronic circuits at a fraction of the cost of purchasing a new high end servo press. Today printers make RFID tags. Learning this technology now will enable the printer to be there with his bags packed when the industry gains its "holy grail" of printing functional transistors on a Flexo press.

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