Our original pure additive™ processing
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.
Features
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.
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