The history of printed circuit board, wiring board and PCB all describe a device that provides electrical interconnections and a surface for mounting electronic components. Although " wiring board" is more technically correct, the term "printed circuit board" (PCB) is most commonly used.
The printed circuit board history begins with the first patents describing the "printed wire" were issued in 1903, PCBs as we know them came into use after World War II. Dr. Paul Eisler, an Austrian scientist working in England , is generally credited in history with making the first PCB. The concept was to replace radio tube wiring with something less bulky.
In the 1950s and '60s, the history of PCBs evolved to circuitry on one side (single-sided) were the dominant variety. Still in use today, single sided boards are the simplest variety of PCB.
PCB's history in the '60s and early '70s, lead to processes that were developed for plating copper on the walls of the drilled holes in circuit boards, permitting top and bottom circuitry to be electrically interconnected. These double-sided boards became the industry standard. Used today in consumer products and computer peripheral equipment, double-sided boards are slightly more expensive than single-sided boards.
As the densities and complexities of electronic components increased, the multi layer circuit board a process of sandwiching several circuitry layers together was developed. By the mid 1980s, the history changed to multi layers accounting for the majority of Printed Circuit Boards produced in the U.S. Today's computers, aerospace equipment, and instrumentation and telecommunications gear all contain multi-layer boards.
The history of the printed wiring board or now referred to as the printed circuit board has evolved over time to become the leading method of electronics in just about everything we use and buy.
Kingford is proud to be a part of PCB history and proud to be the preferred supplier of multi layer printed circuit boards and printed circuit boards for industry leading OEM's and Electronic Contract Manufacturers serving the Industrial, Medical and Instrumentation markets since 1999.
