Features of the Flexible PCB P-Flex®

INDEX

Features of the Flexible Substrate P-Flex®
About Elephantech's manufacturing method (Pure Additive™️ processing)
Specifications, characteristics, and proprietary technologies
Contribute to the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
Advantages of using AM in the manufacturing of Flexible Substrate P-Flex®
About FlexiblePrintedCircuits
Inquiry Form

P-Flex® is a Flex PCB manufactured with Pure Additive™ processing. Until now, electronic circuits were made by subtractive manufacturing where the entire surface is layered with metal before dissolving the unnecessary parts. This method of fabrication requires many different processes such as copper foil production, film laminating, circuit exposure, development and etching. Furthermore, there is also the issue of the method's environmental impact due to the need to dissolve and dispose of the copper foil from unnecessary parts.

The Pure Additive™ processing developed by Elephantech takes an entirely different approach, combining inkjet printing and electroless copper plating technologies to print metal nanoparticles only where necessary for the circuit formulation and growing the metals on top. This new manufacturing method comes with the following advantages:

Shortened lead time and reduction in total cost

Standard specifications can be shipped in as little as 3 days from data submission, greatly supporting product development. Revisions to the design can also be carried out with digital processing alone.
Shortened manufacturing process allows swift delivery for mass production.
Greatly reduces cost, from development to mass production.
Our mass production facility in Nagoya allows us to be fully prepared for large-scale mass produciton.

About Elephantech's manufacturing method (Pure Additive™️ processing)

This manufacturing method consists of inkjet-printing silver nano-ink onto the substrate before electroless copper plating is applied to form the circuit.
By reducing the amount of metal, liquid waste and man-hours, we can lessen manufacturing costs and shorten the lead time.
* Patent No. 6300213

The world's first practical application using printing technology

In addition, the etching / subtractive method needs;

Before：「Etching unnecessary metal」→ Lot of waste.

Now：「Print the metal you need」→ There's no waste.

This manufacturing method consists of inkjet-printing silver nano-ink onto the substrate before electroless copper plating is applied to form the circuit.

Manufacturing process

By producing with the Pure Additive™️ processing, we were able to halven the manufacturing process for flexible substrates as compared to the previous method and speed up production to achieve the shortest ever delivery time.

Here is a short speech from our CEO, Shinya Shimizu, at the "Japan Venture Awards 2021" ceremony held on March 1.

The contents of an interview the NHK International Broadcasting Station had with us has been broadcast in English on the NHK WORLD-JAPAN News.

Specifications, characteristics, and proprietary technologies

Uniqueness of our Technology

About Design Data Formats

Circuit design data format	Extension
RS-274X(Extended Gerber format)	Extensions defined in .gbr or CAD
Illustrator	.ai
AutoCAD	.dxf
CADLUS® PCB	CADLUS Compressed data (.COMP Data)
PDF Instructions in, etc.	.pdf

Please consult us about other format data.
For more information, please refer to the P-Flex® Data Design Guidelines.
https://www.elephantech.co.jp/en/#download

PCB CAD Tool – Extended Gerber file output possible

Company name	CAD tool name
Cadence	ORCAD & ALLEGRO
AutoDesk	EAGLE
Mentor Graphics	PADS
Altium	Altium Designer (AD18, AD19)
Zuken	CR-5000/8000 CADVANCE
Quadcept Inc.	Quadcept
NISOUL CO.,LTD	CADLUS
Open Source	KiCad

Please consult us about other format data.
For more information, please refer to the P-Flex® Data Design Guidelines.
https://www.elephantech.co.jp/en/#download

Contribute to the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)

Elephantech’s efforts to Reduce Environmental Impact by Pure Additive™️ processing.

Making the world sustainable with new manufacturing technologies

Moving forward, we plan to further accelerate our technological development in pursuit of achieving a sustainable world.

Advantages of using AM in the manufacturing of the Flexible PCB P-Flex®

Additive Manufacturing Center

By leading the world with AM, we aim to make AM a major manufacturing method in Electronics, Healthcare, Textile and Optics.

＊AM(Additive Manufacturing) uses inkjet and other printing technologies to selectively stack materials onto desired areas.

IMPC® (In-Mold Printed Circuit)

IMPC®(In-Mold Printed Circuits) is a design and manufacturing solution that provides an integrated, optimized design for the entire component instead of the traditional manufacturing method where plastics and electronic circuits are designed and manufactured separately.

Pure Additive™ processing

This manufacturing method consists of inkjet-printing silver nano-ink onto the substrate before electroless copper plating is applied to form the circuit. By reducing the amount of metal, liquid waste and man-hours, we can lessen manufacturing costs and shorten the lead time.