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Heater Circuit Case Studies

There are many applications possible for this technology;
All Flex is updating this page continuously to add case studies or examples.

Applications

Design Criteria

Hybrid Circuits

Rugged Lap Top Computer

The need was for a laptop that can function in severe temperature environment. This application was military. In cold ambient temperatures the start up cycle needs to warm certain components (such as the hard drive) so they will not be damaged. In this example, when the laptop was started the battery power went first to the hard drive heater to warm up that component prior to the drive being fired. The same unit utilizes a heater in the display to warm it so that it functions properly in low ambient temperatures.

Circuit Description

One conductive layer of metal sized to achieve the correct resistance / temperature.
Polyimide insulating film on each side.
Teflon coated wire leads soldered to the heater with crimp-on-contacts.
High temperature PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) applied to the back side for ease of final assembly.

Other Characteristics
Resistivity: 7.6 Ohms +/- 10%
Temperature Range: -20 deg f / + 225 deg. f.
Power: Maximum power was 54 watts or 15 watts square inch

Aircraft Component Heater

The need was to ensure that instrumentation contained in the nose cone of an aircraft would not ice up during flight. The heater circuit had to be applied to the exterior of the plane and yet be thin enough to avoid aerodynamic issues. In addition it had to be resistant to debris, washable and be applied in a three dimensional fashion.

Circuit Description

One conductive layer of metal sized to achieve the correct resistance / temperature.
Polyimide insulating film on each side.
High temperature PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) applied to the back side for ease of final assembly

Other Characteristics
Resistivity: 150 ohms +/- 10%
Temperature Range:-60 degrees f. To + 150 degrees f .
Applied Voltage:12-18 volt

Military Aircraft Equipment

The need was to warm up equipment from -54c to -40c during high altitude flight. There were a variety of specific needs that required the product to be easily customizable to conform to several heat out put requirements. The product also needed to be thin and light weight. The heater circuit application was very economical because several parts could share the same tooling costs.

Circuit Description

One conductive layer of metal sized to achieve the correct resistance / temperature.
High temperature PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) applied to the back side for ease of final assembly.
Polyimide insulating film on each side.
Metal outer shield on each side for uniform heat transfer.
Leads soldered to the heater.

All Flex has the capability to quickly design, manufacture and deliver in volumes from prototype to medium production. All Flex has manufactured dozens of designs for the military, medical and industrial markets.

More information on Flexible Heater circuit Applications.


All Flex specializes in quickturn flexible circuitry design, fabrication, and assembly of flex circuits, multilayer flex pcbs, and single and double sided flexible pcbs. We provide engineering services for flexible circuit boards and value add services including mixed form factor flex circuit assembly of flexible circuits.
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