Printed Circuit Boards, or PCBs in short, can be seen in
every electronic device that we use. It could be the smartphones we are holding
in our hands all day long, the laptops we use for work, the televisions/radios
we entertain ourselves with, the air-condition/heaters we adjust the
temperatures with, or anything else – everything uses a PCB. While PCBs are a
very common element for every electronic device today, it wasn’t an easy job to
invent this amazing component. It took years for the inventors to invent and
then develop the PCB to make it such an easy and effective component today.
While the entire credit for developing PCBs goes to Paul Eisler, it wasn’t only
his efforts that brought us this incredible piece.
The development of methods used in modern PCBs started as
early as the 1900s. In 1903, a German inventor, Albert Hanson, described flat
foil conductors laminated onto an insulating board in multiple layers. In 1904,
Thomas Edison experimented with chemical methods of plating conductors onto
linen paper. Then, in 1913, Arthur Berry patented a print and etch method, and
Max Schoop obtained a patent to flame-spray metal onto the board. In 1927, American
inventor, Charles Ducas patented a method of electroplating circuit patterns.
Finally, in 1936, the Austrian engineer, Paul Eisler, invented the printed
circuit as part of a radio set. This brought about the increasing usage of PCBs
in naval mines, proximity fuses, and much more in the years further. And now,
we can see how PCB is an important element if every electronic device. So, we
can see how many inventors connected loop to loop to create the modern PCBs
that we see today. However, the efforts of three outstanding men contributed
significantly to help us have the PCBs we are so dependent upon today – Albert
Hanson, Charles Ducas, and Paul Eisler.
Albert Hanson
Although the device that Albert Hanson invented didn’t resemble
the PCBs that we use today, but his ideas paved the way for their creation. In
1903, Albert filed a patent for a device that was meant to improve telephone
exchange boards, which included wires attached to conductive pieces, and bonded
to a flat surface. This device included a simple type of through-hole
construction and conductors on both sides, which are the foundations of the
modern PCBs we see today.
Charles Ducas
In 1927, Charles Ducas used a stencil to print wires
directly on a board, and applied ink to conduct electricity. This helped to put
an electronic path onto an insulated surface, which created a device much in
resemblance to today’s PCBs. Charles also reflected on the possibility of
connecting multiple boards to create a multilayered circuit board.
Paul Eisler
Finally, it was Paul Eisler who helped in inventing the PCBs
that we know of today. After the World War II, Paul came up with the idea of
printing electronic circuits to a board. This helped to move further on from
the labour-intensive practice of hand-soldering each wire on the board. This
device was first used in radio sets used by the British and Americans during
the World War II. And, the device only started gaining prominence to reach
where it has today!
We
can contribute the ease and comfort of our lives to the inventions of these
three great men, who laid the foundation for creating the much appreciated PCBs
that help make our lives fast and easy with the smart electronics that we use
today. After these three great men, it is Miracle Electronics who can
manufacture the most complicated and dense PCB assemblies used today in the
most complicated devices. It is a leading PCBassembly manufacturer from India that provides end-to-end turnkey
solutions, and resourceful EMS capabilities of product designing, system
designing, system architecture, value engineering, manufacturing, and
logistics.
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