Product category:
Sensors and Data Acquisition
News Release from: Sensor Products | Subject: Pressurex
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 07 May 2001
Tactile force-indicating sensor film
Pressurex from Sensor Products is a tactile force-indicating sensor film that comes in the form of a large thin sheet.
Pressurex from Sensor Products is a tactile force-indicating sensor film that comes in the form of a large thin sheet When placed in between impacting or mating surfaces, the sensor film instantaneously and permanently changes colour
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 6 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Film sensors change colour under pressure
Sensor Products Inc has developed Pressurex Pressure Points tactile force indicating films.
Film clarifies electronics packaging problems
Analysis of contact uniformity in PCB assemblies and verifying planarity or flatness between semiconductor wafers and bonding heads was, until recently, a largely inaccurate and unscientific process.
The intensity of this colour is proportional to the amount of force applied allowing the user to actually quantify the stress characteristics across the surface.
Precise measures of pressure can be determined by comparison of the sensor film to a colour calibration chart (conceptually similar to interpreting Litmus paper), or by using one of several imaging systems that Sensor Products supplies.
Pressurex technology is a valuable aid in R and D and QC/QA in electronic packaging.
Determining pressure distribution within a laminating press for multilayer printed circuit boards and revealing uneven pressure distribution across the nip of rollers on a dry film laminator are just some of the capabilities of Pressurex.
The film also is useful in detecting imperfections within the nips themselves.
When manufacturing hybrid circuits, the sensor film reveals inconsistencies in resistor thickness across large area substrates.
Uniformity problems are clearly revealed during thermocompression in the TAB process and designing heat sinks.
Pressurex aids significantly in performing thermal analysis between a heat sink (transistor) and heat source.
Examining a typical heatsink/heat-source interface reveals microroughness and planarity problems that can not be detected by the human eye alone.
Since the force films are quantifiable, an engineer can determine exactly how much pressure is occurring at any point of the interface surface, helping balance the tradeoff between greater thermal conductivity (more tension at the interface) and substrate cracking (overtensioning of the mounting bolts).
With a maximum gauge of 8mil, Pressurex is ideal for invasive intolerant environments that cannot accommodate traditional load cells and other transducers.
Its ease of use makes it an extremely low-cost (approximately $0.2 to $0.5 USD per cm2) and effective testing medium.
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