Appliance Design - September 2007 - (Page 82) CONNECTORS & CORDS Fig. 1. When a circuit is bent or flexed, the layers on the outside of the bend are stretched and the layers on the inside of the bend are compressed. Fig. 2. Stretching flex circuits can result in tears in the cover material and/or broken conductors on the outside of the bend that can be difficult to detect. The circuits must be specifically designed to withstand this type of flexing. is bent sharply. Compression can cause wrinkles in the cover coat on the inside of the bend. Compression can also cause rippled conductors. Cover wrinkles often result in delamination, and rippled conductors can lead to cracks. Stretching can result in tears in the cover material and/or broken conductors on the outside of the bend. (See Fig. 2.) If the outer conductor is stretched and a hairline crack is formed, this would be very difficult to detect during a visual inspection and would probably even pass a continuity test. The result would be a defective circuit that could very likely end up installed in the finished assembly where handling and/or vibration would almost surely cause the conductor to open. The circuit must be designed to withstand the stretching and For more Information Enter 155 82 applianceDESIGN September 2007 For more Information Enter 156 www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.design-concepts.com http://www.design-concepts.com http://www.thermtrol.com http://www.thermtrol.com http://www.appliancedesign.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.