PCB, known as circuit board or circuit board in Chinese, is an important component carrier and line connection carrier in the 3C industry. With the development of intelligence in the electronic industry, there are more and more layers of PCB, becoming smaller and thinner, and accommodating more and more electronic components. Accordingly, there are higher requirements for processing precision. How to meet such a change in demand, laser processing equipment provides an effective solution.

The main applications of laser cutting equipment in the PCB industry include PCB laser cutting, splitting, drilling, HDI board drilling, FPC contour cutting, drilling, and FPC coating film cutting.
 

PCB laser cutting, splitting, drilling

In the early days of PCB cutting and splitting equipment, mechanical and manual splitting methods were used, with the disadvantages of long mold opening cycles, slow efficiency, and low accuracy. Especially when splitting on circuit boards with components welded, the vibration of the boards may cause certain damage to the components themselves. However, laser processing methods are direct molding with high speed, non-contact processing without burrs, and high accuracy. Especially on PCB boards with components welded, components will not be damaged.

Currently, the laser equipment used for PCB cutting and splitting is mainly divided into three types: ultraviolet, green light PCB laser cutting, and CO2PB laser cutting. The laser cutting machines are mainly used for cutting PCB boards below 0.8mm. When the processing efficiency exceeds 0.6mm, the processing efficiency is relatively slow, mainly for sheet metal cutting. However, UV laser cutting has higher accuracy and less thermal impact.

PCB sheet laser cutting sample

The 35W green light laser cutting machine is mainly used for cutting thick PCB boards. Currently, the average power of the 35W green light laser cutting machine can achieve a processing thickness of 2mm and a processing speed of 3mm/s. Compared to the UV laser cutting machine, the processing thickness is higher and the processing efficiency is higher, but the processing accuracy is not as good as the UV laser cutting machine.

PCB thick plate laser cutting sample

CO2 laser cutting machine: CO2 laser cutting machine is a relatively mature equipment with higher power, mainly aimed at cutting thick PCB plates. The disadvantage is that the cutting gap is generally 100% wide μ Above m, the greater the power, the greater the thermal impact, and there is a certain blackening phenomenon at the cutting edge.

FPC laser cutting sample

This market is already a mature model, mainly using ultraviolet laser cutting machines, which can cut and drill FPC materials. At the same time, it can achieve roll to roll and roll to sheet cutting for FPC coating film products. Of course, there are also equipment using CO2 laser cutting machines on the market, which are also cheaper, but their disadvantages are also obvious, such as insufficient accuracy, and the blackening of the cutting edges is more serious than ultraviolet laser cutting. Xiaobian has encountered such a customer that the technology tells the purchaser to look for a machine, but the purchaser believes that the cutting edge of the equipment is blackened and the price is lower than that of the UV machine, forming a misunderstanding. In fact, the blackening phenomenon of the cutting edge of the UV laser cutting machine is very low, and the impact on the equipment is small, which can be completely ignored, but the price is also more expensive than the CO2 laser cutting machine.
 

With the rapid development of the electronics industry, the cutting and processing technology for circuit boards is also undergoing continuous innovation. Traditional PCB cutting and splitting equipment, such as early manual splitting, to various types of machine splitting, etc. These traditional cutting and splitting methods have too long mold opening cycles, low efficiency, low accuracy, and high stress. Especially when processing PCB boards with precision components welded, it is easy to cause damage to components, Resulting in a higher scrap rate of raw materials. Advanced PCB laser processing technology can directly shape raw materials at one time, non-contact processing, no burrs, high accuracy, and fast speed. Nowadays, the line width and line spacing of PCB boards have become narrower, the aperture has become smaller, and the flexibility has become higher and higher. Relatively speaking, PCB laser cutting machines are definitely the best choice for dividing boards.

About HGTECH: HGTECH is the pioneer and leader of laser industrial application in China, and the authoritative provider of global laser processing solutions. We have comprehensively arranged laser intelligent machine, measurement and automation production lines, and smart factory construction to provide overall solutions for intelligent manufacturing.