Two biggest applications market share of Flexible PCB

Aerospace Applications
The heads-up display (HUD) as used in aerospace is a familiar technology with a clear purpose: displaying operational data directly in the pilot’s field of vision alleviates the need to look away from a potential target to read critical operational data during flight.
A recent extension of the HUD, applied to wearable technology, provides remote 3D holographic images in a flip-down visor mounted to a helmet.
The holographic waveguide helmet-mounted display (HWVD) from HoloEye Systems provides high-resolution true 3D imaging, using flexible PCB cables to drive the waveguide optical system, which uses HoloEye’s liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) display technology.
The flexibility, reliability, and performance of the flex PCB cables makes the HWVD effective in realtime use for avionics, and the light overall weight makes it feasible to mount the display directly on the pilot’s helmet, instead of in the aircraft.



Medical Application
A medical device company utilizes flex PCB manufacturer designs as important components of a new class of hearing-assist devices, providing higher range and resolution (125 Hz to 10,000 Hz) than currently available hearing devices.
The underlying premise is revolutionary: a small photoreceptor and micro-actuator are placed inside the ear canal, with the micro-actuator in contact with the eardrum.
Outside the ear, as in conventional hearing devices, a microphone captures sound and a digital signal processor (DSP) converts it to digital signals to be sent into the ear. But here’s where things get exciting: the digital signals actuate an infrared laser located inside the ear canal, which in turn excite the photoreceptor, turning the digitized audio into a small current which drives the micro-actuator, causing the eardrum to vibrate.

Flex PCB design permitted the engineers to mount the microphone, DSP, and battery in a tiny, compact package that fits behind the ear, and which allows the laser to provide both power and signal to the passive photoreceptor and micro-actuator.
While this is currently still an investigational device, the technology is promising and exciting.

The product relies on the miniaturization made possible by flex PCB design to convert sound waves into laser signals that drive a micro-actuator inside the user’s ear, turning the user’s eardrum into a speaker.
The product relies on the miniaturization made possible using flex PCB designs to convert sound waves into laser signals that drive a micro-actuator inside the user’s ear, turning the user’s eardrum into a speaker.
The amount of applications and uses for flex PCBs within the consumer industry are too exhaustive to list. But simply put: if you wear it, carry it, or drive it, there’s a good chance it has flexible PCBs in it.
The first flex PCB most people think of is typically the connector between the keyboard and screen of a laptop. Similarly, flip phones use flex PCBs to connect the two halves of the phone.
The moving print head of modern printers use flex PCBs in place of the older-style ribbon connectors; likewise, the read/write head of disk drives—which require billions of flexing operations during the product’s lifecycle—have benefited from the increased reliability and cost-effectiveness of flex PCBs.
Automotive applications in particular carry a number of advantages, not only in the usual arena of reliability, but even more so for the weight savings that a flex PCB offers compared with a standard PCB and wiring harness.
Weight is the enemy of fuel efficiency (or range, for electric/hybrid vehicles), and flex PCBs greatly reduce the labor involved in manufacturing a traditional automotive wiring harness. And the inherent resistance of flex PCBs to vibration makes them ideal for the harsh environment inside a motor vehicle.

Whether for cost reduction, longevity, improved product quality or performance, flexible PCBs offer an effective way to connect the various modules of an electronic system.